


Hurt ( Daryl Dixon x Reader )

by Sourwolf_sterek32



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Reader, Asexual Relationship, Badass Clementine, Dad figure Daryl, Daryl helps reader, Daryl is a softie at heart and loves Clem, Demisexual Daryl Dixon, F/M, Hurt Daryl Dixon, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Protective Daryl Dixon, Reader helps Daryl, hurt reader, mentions of child abuse, not really written in detail, protective Reader, reader is a badass, they look after each other and it's cute af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2019-11-14 08:00:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18048674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sourwolf_sterek32/pseuds/Sourwolf_sterek32
Summary: You learnt very early that it wasn't the dead you should fear, it was the living, especially the Saviours. It's been six months since you managed to escape the Sanctuary with a little girl called Clementine. The two of you finding your old family farm, away from humanity.That was until you found a man named Daryl Dixon trying to hotwire one of your trucks.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who play The Walking Dead Game and know who Clementine is, picture Season 2 Clem. For those of you who don’t that is fine and doesn’t matter, just picture the little girl in the photo below when you hear the name Clementine. 
> 
> Also I have written Daryl as demisexual in this fic and the reader as asexual (but this is only addressed in a later chapter)

It's been six months since the Saviours killed your whole group, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that you lived through it. He took you hostage back to the Sanctuary along with Clementine, who had become like a little sister to you over the years.

For the first week Simon had locked the two of you in an empty closet, stripping you of your weapons and clothes. Giving you a small blanket to share between the two of you, but you immediately wrapped the thin blanket around Clementine, trying to cover her up and keep her warm. She was only 11 years old, she was a child, she didn't deserve any of that.

It wasn't until a week later that you finally met Negan and he asked if you wanted to be his wife. You would have told him to fuck off, especially after his men killed your whole group, but then he started making you an offer. He told you if you said yes to him then Clementine would be safe and could stay with you, but if you said no then he couldn't guarantee her safety and said the two of you would probably be split up. So you said yes and hated every minute of it.

Eventually you managed to escape during the middle of the night with Clementine, but you had no idea where to go. The Saviours knew where your old camp was and that would be the first place Negan would look, so you decided to go back to your old family farm. It was fairly isolated from any major towns or highways which is exactly what you were looking for.

The farm needed a bit of work done to it since nobody had lived there for nearly three years when the apocalypse started. But the house was still in perfect condition along with most the barns and sheds on the property. Between the two of you, you managed to fix the broken fences and instal new ones to make sure no walkers could get inside the property.

But what surprised you the most was how two horses, two cows and a alpaca managed to survive. The small paddocks that they had been in had the tall cattle fences around it so a few walkers wouldn't have been able to break it down, which meant no herds had made their way through otherwise they wouldn't be still standing.

You taught Clementine all about living life on a farm, but the two of you still went outside the property to make sure you kept your skills sharp against walkers. You taught her how to ride a horse and milk a cow. You showed her how to fish in the small river that was located a few miles from the property. You also showed her how to shoot a recurve bow with your old targets and bow that your father used to teach you with when you were a kid.

After the shit you had to go through at the Sanctuary, the two of you absolutely loved the farm, but you never let your guard down even with the fences.

"Clem, breakfast is ready!" You shouted from the kitchen of the farm house as you finished cooking the powdered eggs. Your father used to love powered eggs before all this and you were suddenly glad he always stocked up on them.

"Why do I have to wake up so early? The world ended, can't I sleep in?" You heard the young girl question as she walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes.

"It's important to have some kind of schedule even if the world has changed. Plus it's eight in the morning, it's not early." You responded glancing over at her before you poured the scrabbled eggs onto plates.

"You can't tell the time anymore." She argued, sitting down at the kitchen table as you placed her plate in front of before taking a seat opposite her.

"I liked it better when you weren't this smart. Seriously, pretty soon you're gonna be as tall as me." You stated causing her to grin happily as she began shovelling the eggs into her mouth. She had grown up so much since when you first found her. Back when all of this started you and your friend, Lee had found her hiding in a tree house, she had only been eight years old. No kid should have to grow up in this and it forced her to mature quickly, but she was highly intelligent for a kid her age and that definitely helped her a lot in this new world.

"Do you want me to give you a hair cut? You said it's getting a bit long the other day." You suggested between mouthfuls as you glanced over at Clementine as she ran her fingers through her dark brown hair that was now below her shoulders.

"Lee always told me to keep my hair short. Harder for walkers to grab it." She replied and you nodded in agreement.

"He always was the smart one." You said with a sad smile. Lee had died from a walker bite a year before your group ran into the Saviours and you were forced to shoot your best friend before he turned. It was ages ago, but it still hurt thinking about him.

"He wouldn't want you to be sad." Clementine suddenly said snapping you away from your thoughts as she stared at you with big hazel eyes.

"I know." You replied as you continued eating your eggs. "Eat your breakfast, then I'll do your hair before we feed the animals."

-

"There you go, kiddo." You said as you finished tying her freshly cut hair into two low pony tails as you placed her signature baseball cap on her head. You weren't sure what the letter 'D' on the front of the cap meant, but you knew her parents had bought it for her before the apocalypse.

"Thanks Y/N." She said fixing the hat on her head as you placed the scissors back in the bathroom draw.

"I reckon it's time to get to work and let the animals out the barn, don't you think?" You asked glancing over at her as she eagerly nodded and you smiled. "Can you go outside and turn the generator off first? I don't think we'll need it again until tonight, don't wanna waste fuel."

"Alright, I'll meet you by the barn." She replied racing out the bathroom as you made your way into your bedroom getting changed out your pyjamas and into your usual clothes. Jeans, white tank top and sleeveless flannel shirt, along with your cowgirl boots and your old cowgirl hat, that you found in one of the cupboards from when you were a teenager.

You slipped your recurve bow over your shoulders along with your quiver of arrows before strapping on your belt holding your knife and revolver. The Saviours had taken all your weapons, but luckily nobody had looted your family farm because your father had a whole gun safe full of weapons.

"Y/N!" Clementine's voice screamed in panic and your blood ran cold. The last time you had heard her scream like that was when the Saviours had showed up and began gunning down your group.

"Clem!" You shouted, sprinting out your bedroom as she ran through the front door and you knew by her expression that something was wrong. "What happened? Are you hurt?" You quickly questioned as you dropped down onto one knee, so you could look her in the eye as you scanned her body for any form of injury.

"There's a man by the barn. He didn't see me though." She answered pointing in the direction of the barn that was located a few hundred metres away from the house. Shit, how'd they find you? You made sure your tracks couldn't be tracked and its been months, how'd they only just find you now?

"Did you see anyone else outside?" You asked, but she shook her head and you nodded trying to think of a plan of attack. There had to be more of them, the Saviours never left the Sanctuary without a group. "Go upstairs, you remember how to get in the attic? Good, go into the attic and shut the latch behind you. Take this and you shoot anyone who tries to open it." You instructed handing her your revolver which you knew she could shoot after your many lessons with her.

"What if you try get in the attic?" She asked and you smiled slightly at her smart thinking.

"I'll call out to you, so you know it's me and not a Saviour. Now go." You ordered, watching as she raced up the stairs before you walked towards the front door, grabbing the double barrel shotgun as you opened the door quietly.

You crouched down, so your body was hidden by the wooden railing around the house as you peaked through the gaps of the rails, but you couldn't see anyone near the barn. Slowly you stood back up and began walking down the stairs in the direction of the barn when you heard a car door click open to your right. You quickly spun around, your gun raised in the direction of the vechicles you had parked in the old garage near the house. You couldn't see the man, but you figured he was near the old red pickup truck since the drivers side door was open.

You had two trucks and one small commodore, all full of gas and boxes of supplies in case of an emergency, along with an old dirt bike that belonged to your brother.

You quickly jogged over to the garage, your back pressed against the outside wall of the shed as you listened for any movement inside, but you couldn't hear a thing. Slowly you made your way around to the front of the garage as you peaked your head inside, noticng the truck door still open as you quietly made your way towards it, your gun raised.

As you reached the side of the truck you saw a man crouching down by the drivers side door, leaning inside the truck as he tried hot-wiring the engine from under the steering wheel. You knew the man hadn't seen you yet as you took a few more steps closer until you were standing a few metres behind him. You didn't recognise the man, with his shoulder length dark hair and very distinct leather vest with angel wings on the back, but there were a lot of Saviours at the Sanctuary, you could have easily not bumped into this Saviour before. He also he nasty looking cut on the side of his thigh, blood covering part of pants and you knew you'd be able to out run him if it came to that.

"Don't fucking move." You ordered, pumping the shotgun, your finger hovering over the trigger as the man visibly froze at the sound of the gun cocking. You could see his right hand slowly moving towards the car seat where you saw a crossbow sitting on seat right beside him. "You try grab that crossbow, you'll be dead before you hit the ground!" You yelled sternly and the man listened as he lowered his hand, his back still facing you as your mind raced trying to figure out whether to kill him or not.

"I don't want no trouble." The man responded in a thick southern accent as he slowly raised his hands trying to show that he wasn't a threat, but you knew better than anyone to not let your guard down.

"Who are you?" You questioned, knowing full well he would say 'Negan' if he was a Saviour.

"Daryl." He answered and you swore under your breath. He wasn't a Saviour. How the hell did he find this place? What were you going to do with him? If you let him live, he might come back with more people and try take the farm from you and you couldn't risk that. But, what if he was a good person? You couldn't kill an innocent man, could you?

"You alone?" You asked and the man nodded as you picked up his crossbow from the seat, inspecting the weapon for a split second before turning your attention back to Daryl. "Good." You commented before slamming the butt of the crossbow against the mans head as he dropped to the ground, unconscious. Now what were you going to do with him?

-

***One Hour Later***

"The man isn't a Saviour. He must have just stumbled upon the farm by accident." You explained between push ups as Clementine sat on the kitchen bench watching you. When all of this started you were just a college student studying Veterinarian Science, you knew how to shoot guns and bows from growing up on the farm, but you weren't fit or very strong and all that changed once the apocalypse started. Lee helped you train every day to get strong and improve your stamina, knowing it could be the difference between life and death, and now three years later, you had definitely improved.

"If he isn't a Saviour, then why did you tie him up in the horse stables?" She questioned as you finished your last set of push ups before grabbing your towel, wiping the sweat from your brow.

"We don't know what this man is capable of. Now, I'm going to check on him before I go out hunting." You replied, grabbing your bow and quiver off the table.

"Can I come with you?" She asked looking up at you with hopeful eyes, but you shook your head as you grabbed your cowgirl hat from the table.

"Not this time, kiddo. I need you to stay here and make sure the man wasn't lying about being alone. If you so much as think you see another person walking around the property you call me through the radio. But, don't go into the stables, alright?" You asked handing the young girl a walkie talkie before clipping yours to your belt.

"I can do that." She replied, taking the walkie as you pulled her into a hug.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours." You said, kissing the top of her head before you grabbed the first aid kit from the bench as you made your way outside.

You made your way into the stables cautiously as you walked into the first pen and you sighed in relief spotting Daryl still unconscious, sitting against the wooden post with his hands tied behind his back.

Slowly you walked into the stall, placing your bow and the first aid kit on the hay covered ground before you knelt down beside him, trying to look for any other injuries as you scanned his body only just realising how attractive the man actually was. He had a cute little mole above the left side of his lips hiding amongst the hair on his upper lip. His bare muscular arms were covered in dirt, but he didn't seem to have any further injuries other than the one on his leg.

"Please don't wake up, while I do this." You muttered to yourself as you pulled out your knife and cut the fabric of his pants around the wound. You figured he wouldn't want you pulling his pants down so he was gonna have to deal with a hole in the side of his pants.

It was a fairly decent size gash on his thigh and you were curious as to how he got it. You found yourself glancing back up at his face, taking in all the details before you shook your head. This was not the time, he could be a mass murder for all you knew.

"Don't make me regret helping you." You whispered as you began cleaning the wound with disinfectant before grabbing the needle and threat as you began stitching the cut. Once you finished you quickly wrapped a thick bandage around his thigh, to stop the wound from getting an infection before you double checked his restrains and left, heading out to hunt.

-

"Y/N?" Clementines voice called through your walkie talkie, scarring away the buck that you had been tracking as you sighed pulling out your radio.

"I'm here. Everything alright?" You asked through the radio as you scanned your surroundings making sure there weren't any walkers nearby.

"The man's awake. I can hear him yelling."

"I'll be back in five minutes. Just stay inside, okay?" You replied, slinging the rope of rabbits over your shoulder. It wasn't a buck, but the four rabbits would have to do for now.

"Copy that." Clementine answered and with that you began making your way back through the woods towards the farm. You had taken Daryl's crossbow out with you, but after one shot at a rabbit with it you immediately slung it over your shoulder and went back to your recurve bow after missing the animal entirely.

As you jumped the back fence into the property, you made your way towards the wooden stables. You could hear Daryl inside, clearly trying get free of his restraints, but you knew he wouldn't be able to.

"Your crossbow is terribly unbalanced." You called out, walking into the stable Daryl was in to find him sitting where you had left him as his head shot up in your direction. You froze for a split second as you took in his piercing blue eyes watching you cautiously and you could tell he was trying to read you.

"Why were you trying to hot-wire one of my trucks?" You asked bluntly as you leant against the wooden wall opposite him, dropping his crossbow down beside you.

"I needed a vehicle." He simply replied in a deep southern drawl and you rolled your eyes.

"Well the keys were hidden in the glovebox. You didn't need to rip apart the inside of my truck to get the wires out." You responded as Daryl stared at you for a few seconds trying to figure you out. You watched as his eyes scanned up and down your body, not in a creepy way, but in a curious way.

"Why didn't ya kill me?" He questioned, realising that you weren't going to say anything further.

"I don't know. Usually I would have, but there was something about you that I can't quite put my finger on." You answered honestly, slinging your recurve bow off over your shoulder, leaning it against the wall beside the crossbow before you took a few steps towards him, but you instantly stopped as he sat up a bit straighter.

"Look, you said you didn't want any trouble and neither do I." You said, holding your hands up slightly to try show him that you weren't a threat as he scoffed.

"That why ya knocked me out and tie me up in this barn?" He snapped and you flinched at his sudden raised voice as you shook your head.

"Firstly, you're in a stable, not a barn. Secondly, you trespassed on my farm and tried stealing one of my cars, what else was I meant to do?" You questioned in annoyance adjusting the rope of rabbits over your shoulder as Daryl shrugged.

"What's ya name?" He asked, after a few minutes of silence, his eyes glancing at the dead rabbits before focusing back on you.

"Doesn't matter." You answered, shaking your head.

"What are ya gonna do with me?" He asked, but he didn't sound scared as he stared over at you, taking in your country hat and boots, realising you were definitely a farm girl.

"I don't know yet." You sighed, running your fingers through your hair. "Look, you're safe on the farm, no walkers can get in. I built the fences myself, as long as you shut the gate when you came in?" You asked, only just realising that the front gate could be open and you could feel yourself starting to panic at the thought of walkers walking around the property with Clementine inside.

"I shut it." He answered and you sighed with relief before opening the plastic bag where the first aid kit was as you pulled out a water bottle and unscrewed the cap as you knelt down beside Daryl, holding the bottle in front of him questioningly. He looked as though he was going to refuse the water before he thought better of it and nodded as you held the bottle to his lips allowing to take a few sips. "Thanks, Rabbit." He said after a few seconds and for some reason you found yourself smiling slightly at the nickname he just called you, but you quickly shook your head knowing you were being stupid.

"There's gonna be someone outside the stable at all times with an automatic rifle, so don't even think about trying something." You lied, screwing the cap back on the water bottle before you grabbed the two bows and began making your way out the stable. "I'll be back later." You said over your shoulder, not letting him say anything further as you walked away. What the hell were you going to do with him?


	2. Chapter 2

  
  
  
Daryl didn't know why, but for some reason he was really intrigued by you. You seemed like the kind of woman who could take care of herself and not take anyone's shit, but also the kind of woman who seemed to care for others, especially since you stitched up his thigh. You were kind of mysterious as well which is what intrigued him the most, you seemed like a fierce country girl who could shoot a bow, but he also saw a hint of fear in you when he raised his voice. You had this look in your eyes, that felt familiar, but he couldn't quite pinpoint it.

He knew he should be angry that you tied to him up inside a stable, but for some reason he just couldn't be angry.

"Hello?" A child's voice suddenly called from outside the stables as his head shot up in shock. Was that a kid? Why was there a kid here? "Are you awake?"

"Yeah, who are you?" Daryl questioned staring towards the door to the stall he was in as footsteps got closer before the door swung open as a little girl walked in. She would have had to be no older then 12 years old as he stared at her in confusion.

"I'm Clementine. You're Daryl?" She asked quietly and he nodded as she closed the door behind her before sitting on top of the small hay bale in the corner of the stall.

"Ya mother know you're here?" He asked, knowing full well you wouldn't want her here with a stranger like him.

"Y/N isn't my mum." She answered. Y/N. So that was her name. It kinda suited her, pretty name for a pretty face, he thought to himself.

"Who is she then?" He found himself asking, although he wasn't sure why he wanted to know so much about the strange woman.

"She found me at the beginning, protected me and taught me how to defend myself. She was the leader of our group, kept us safe, kept us all alive until..." Clementine trailed off as she looked down sadly and Daryl had a sinking feeling in his stomach at what the young girl was going to say.

"Until what?"

"The bad guys came. Killed everyone; Kenny, Luke, Omid, Alvin, Rebecca, Jane, everyone. But they took us, they did things to Y/N... bad things. But she got us out of there and we came here. Haven't met any other people since, that's why she might seem a bit harsh." She explained and slowly Daryl began to understand why you had been a bit sceptical about him. The last people you had come in contact with had hurt her in ways he didn't even want to think about. It's a wonder why she didn't just shoot him on the spot, he sure as hell would have in her position.

"So it's just the two of you?" He asked and the girl nodded as he smiled slightly. That was smart, you told him there would always be someone outside with a gun, but there wasn't anyone else. That was cleaver thinking.

"You should go, kid. Y/N probably doesn't want ya out here with me." Daryl said after a few minutes of silence as he watched the little girl jump off the hay bale as she reached for the door before glancing back over at him.

"She won't kill you, not unless you do something to try hurt us." She said, and Daryl nodded in understanding, watching as the little girl walked off leaving him sitting there thinking about everything she had just said. So, you used to be the leader of your group, but then got attacked by bad guys... Shit, that's awful. He knew how painful it was to basically lose his whole group, back when the Governor attacked and everyone got split up. He thought they were dead, that he was never gonna see them again, but he was wrong, thank God.

-

"It's going to be dark soon, are you letting the man go?" Clementine suddenly asked glancing over her shoulder towards you as you walked into the lounge room before she turned back to her drawings she was colouring in on the coffee table.

"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna go talk to him now. Go have a shower and get ready for bed, I'll be back in half an hour to tuck you in, alright?" You said slinging the backpack you just filled over your shoulders as the little girl nodded in response before you walked out the room.

You were now in denim shorts and a black tank top after your shower, but you still had your belt clipped around the band of your shorts with your handgun and knife, you never went anywhere without them. Slipping on your boots and grabbing your hat from the hook on the wall and made you way outside, taking in the last of the sunrays as the sun slowly began to set behind the trees in the distance.

"Still alive in here?" You called, walking into the stables as you heard Daryl grunt in response before you opened the door to the stall he was in to find him still sitting in the same spot, with his hands tied behind his back. "I need to bring the animals in the stables for the night, so I gotta take you into he barn, it'll be more comfortable in there anyway." You explained walking over to him as you pulled your knife out.

"You try anything and I won't hesitate to kill you." You warned and Daryl just nodded as you began cutting the rope that was attached to the wooden post behind him. You weren't stupid enough to cut his restraints off entirely, he was still a stranger after all, so made sure to leave the rope around his wrists, behind his back.

You helped him stand up from where he was sitting, but as soon as you let go he nearly fell over and you mentally facepalmed for forgetting about the stitches in his thigh before you quickly grabbed his shoulders as he grunted in pain.

"I don't need ya help. Can walk on my own." He muttered in annoyance, but you just rolled your eyes as you helped him walk out the stables and towards the barn.

"Your leg is gonna be sore for a while, you're lucky the wound didn't get infected." You commented as you opened the large wooden doors to the barn before you helped him inside.

"I've had worse, Rabbit." Daryl responded, glancing over at you and you hated the fact that you could recognise the look in his eyes as memories of the Sanctuary flash through your mind.

"So have I." You simply replied as you pulled your knife back out and cut the last of the rope off his wrists, freeing his hands. "Don't make me regret this." You muttered while helping him sit down against a hay bale in the corner of the barn before you pulled your backpack off your shoulders and handed him the container of food along with a spoon.

"What's this?" He questioned staring at the food in surprise before looking back over at you as you sat down against another hay bale opposite him.

"A toy tractor. What does it look like?" You responded sarcastically as you leant back against the hay bale, bringing your knees up to your chest as you wrapped your arms around them while watching him as he began to eat the rabbit stew you made a few hours ago.

"It's going to be dark soon, so you can stay in here for the night if you want, but you're free to leave. You can take the motorcycle in the garage if you know how to ride and go." You said after a few minutes as Daryl stopped eating and looked over at you.

"Ya should come with me, and the kid too." Daryl began to say and you frowned at the mention of Clementine. How the hell did he know about her? "She came to me earlier and talked for a bit and then left. I know it's just the two of ya here, but you can come with me. My group, we have a community, it's safe and surrounded by walls. No walkers can get in, you and Clementine would be safe." Daryl began to explain and froze. No, no, no, you were not going back to the Sanctuary. He was a Saviour, you were wrong. How could you be so stupid and let your guard down around him? He was with Negan.

"Who the hell are you?" You suddenly questioned, quickly standing up as you pulled out your handgun, flicking the safety off as you aimed at him.

"What?" Daryl asked dumbly as stared at the gun in confusion.

"How did you find us?!" You shouted, panic evident in your voice as your hands trembled while you kept the gun aimed at the man.

"Whoa, I ain't whoever ya think I am, Rabbit." He tried to say, but you shook your head.

"Bullshit! He sent you, didn't he? I'm not going back, I won't go back!" You yelled, your finger hovering over the trigger as you felt tears starting to burn in your eyes. You knew they would find you sooner or later, you should have just killed Daryl when you found him.

"I don't know what ya talkin' 'bout. I'm from a community called Alexandria, I ain't gonna hurt ya or the kid." Daryl said calmly, still sitting on the ground as he stared up at you.

"Alexandria? Who's the leader of your group?" You questioned, you had never heard of an outpost called Alexandria... Maybe he wasn't a Saviour...

"Rick. He wouldn't do anythin' to hurt either of ya, he's a good man." Daryl explained, keeping his tone gentle as he watched you process what he just said before you suddenly lowered your gun.

"Thank God." You whispered, bolstering your gun as you slowly sat back down opposite Daryl, his eyes watching you the entire time as he tried to workout what made you so panicked.

"Who did ya think I was?" He asked cautiously, realising this was clearly a sensitive topic as you slowly lifted your head meeting his worried eyes.

"A few months back, my group ran into another group. They weren't good people, they slaughtered my friends right in front of me and took Clem and I back to their community with them. When you began explaining Alexandria with it's fences, I thought you were apart of that same community." You half explained with a shrug as Daryl nodded in understanding. Neither of you said anything for a few minutes as Daryl continued eating the food.

"Do ya have a map and a pen?" He asked randomly and you nodded.

"Yeah, I'll go get it. I gotta put Clementine to bed and the animals in the barn. I'll be back in 20 minutes."

-

When you walked back into the barn you were shocked to find Daryl still sitting where you had left him as you smiled softly before handing him the map and pen.

"Don't make me regret this, but these are yours too." You said handing him his crossbow and hunting knife, your fingers brushing against his as he took the weapons with an appreciative nod.

"Thanks." He muttered before he began studying the map in his hands while you watched curiously.

"The farm is here." You stated noticing his confusion as you pointed to the location on the map before sitting down beside him.

"You aren't that far away from Alexandria, it's only an hours drive north." Daryl informed as he drew a circle on the map before labelling it Alexandria. "The community takes people in, if ya ever change your mind."

"I will keep that mind, but Clem and I are pretty set up here." You answered and Daryl nodded in understanding as you grabbed the backpack from earlier and pulled out a blanket. "It shouldn't get too cold tonight, but figured it would be more comfortable than a dirt floor." You half explained, handing the man the fleece blanket, his eyes locking with yours for a few seconds as you took in how blue they actually were.

"Thanks." He muttered and you could almost hear the uncertainty in his voice as to why you were being so nice to him and if you were being honest you had no idea why.

"I'll leave the key in the motorbike for you and you can leave whenever you want... Just don't tell anyone about this place, please." You asked, slinging the bag over your shoulder as you glanced over at him as he nodded from where he sat.

"Goodnight, Daryl. Don't go trying to steal someone else's truck, they might not be as friendly as me." You joked as you began walking out the barn and you heard Daryl chuckle slightly from behind you.

"Night, Rabbit."

-

It took you hours to fall asleep that night. You just couldn't seem to shut your brain off, your mind automatically going to Daryl. You didn't know why you were so interested in the man, you barely knew him, yet something made you feel drawn to him and you had no idea what.

Yes, he was a very attractive guy, no point trying to argue with that and he seemed like a good person, but that still didn't change the fact that you hardly knew him. He was going to be gone by morning so there wasn't any point getting attached to the man, but for some reason you felt a little sad about that. God, Y/N get a grip of yourself. You're not a kid anymore, you're a strong, independent woman and a single man should not have this much control over you. Especially not a man who you met 24 hours ago.

With a sigh you forced yourself out of bed. The sun shining through the small gap in your bedroom curtains indicating that it was probably time to get your ass up.

You yawned walking down the hallway, banging on Clementine's door until you heard her groaning in annoyance for being woken up before you headed towards the front door.

You glanced towards the barn in the distance, but you couldn't tell if Daryl had left yet so you walked around the outside of the house to where the generator was set up as you flicked the switched and turned it on before heading back inside for a shower to wake yourself up.

"So you let the man leave?" Clementine asked as she helped you with the dishes from breakfast and tea from last night.

"Yeah, told him he could stay the night if he wanted to though. It's dangerous outside in the dark." You answered, handing her another plate as she began to dry it with a towel.

"It's dangerous during daytime too." She commented and you nodded in agreement. Nothing was safe in this world anymore.

"What do you say, I teach you a bit more about horse riding after you finish your homework?" You asked, glancing over at the girl who quickly nodded in excitement. There weren't any schools or any for education in this new world and Clem wasn't even a teenager yet. So you try your best to help teach her and give her an education. You stick to the basic subjects like maths, English and history, but you also teach her life lessons and survival like how tie different kinds of nots and how to drive.

"I'm finished! Can we go ride the horses now?" Clementine asked nearly 20 minutes later as you finished restringing your recurve bow between helping her with English.

"Alright, go put your boots on. I'll meet you by the stables." You replied, standing up from the couch as you slipped your bow over your shoulder and began walking towards the front door, grabbing your hat from the hook as you made your way towards the stables.

You glanced towards the barn, noticing that the front door was opened slightly and for some reason you felt your heart drop as you realised that Daryl had already left.

Within minutes you let the animals out in the paddock, minus the wo horses as you began to saddle them up.

Clementine was a fast learner, she had only had been on a horse twice but she already seemed like a natural.

"Get on your horse! Let's ride around the paddock together." Clementine shouted, glancing over her shoulder towards you as you leant against the fence watching her with a proud smile. "Y/N, come on!" She whined and you laughed, but nodded as you fixed your cowgirl hat on your head before jumping over the fence.

"Alright, come on boy." You said gently, walking over to the black stallion that you had saddled up earlier and within five minutes the two of you were riding around the paddock together. You had never seen the young girl smile and laugh so much whenever she was horse riding and you were gonna do everything you can to keep her smiling. She had been through so much since the whole world turned to shit, it was hard to remember that she was just a kid sometimes.

-

By the time he actually woke up, the sun was blinding him through the gap in the barn door, of course he decided to sleep in the one spot where the sun would hit him directly through the gap. But, he did have to admit that was the best sleep he'd had in a while even if he was on the floor of some old fashioned barn.

Slowly he sat himself up, rubbing his sore thigh beside the bandage and stitches that Y/N had sown on him and he knew if she didn't do that then he would have probably gotten an infection or worse. He could hear faint voices outside occasionally and he realised that he must have really slept in if Y/N was already awake and probably feeding the farm animals.

Grabbing his crossbow from the ground beside him, he began making his way out the barn. Squinting at the sudden bright light before his eyes adjusted and he spotted Y/N and Clementine in the paddock by the stables, both of them on horse back.

He could see the young girl laughing at something Y/N must have said, both them with matching bright smiles as they rode the horses. He had never seen you smile like that before, after everything you had told him about how your whole group was killed and you were captured by a bad group of people, he couldn't believe you how strong you were, how despite everything you had been through, you were still smiling and for some reason that made him respect you even more. 

"Sit up a bit straighter, don't slouch." He heard you instruct as he began walking towards the paddock. He watched as Clementine did as she was told and sat up straighter on the saddle and he didn't miss the proud smile on your face as you watched the young girl.

"That's it! You're a natural." You shouted, turning your horse around as you started trotting back towards Clem before your hat suddenly flew off your head. You quickly reached up to grab it when you felt it getting loose, but you were too late as you watched it fly through the sky, landing by the fence as you eyes spotted Daryl walking towards the paddock.

You felt your heart skip a beat as your eyes landed on his, watching as he bent down to pick up your hat before leaning against the paddock fence watching you with an unreadable expression.

"Hey, stranger." You called as you slowed your horse down to a walking pace, glancing over at Clementine who seemed to have everything under control before you bought your attention back to the man you thought you had already left, but clearly you were wrong.

"Hey, Rabbit." He replied as his mouth twitched and you were pretty sure he was fighting a smile as he looked over at you.

"Hey, Daryl. I thought you left." Clementine's voice suddenly called as she came up beside you, still on her horse as the two of you rode your horses over to the fence.

"Was just 'bout to. Thought I'd say goodbye before I go." Daryl replied, glancing from Clementine back to you as you jumped down from your horse, walking towards Daryl as he held your hat towards you through the fence.

"Thanks."

"Nah, thank you for what ya did for me. I'd probably be dead right now if I came across someone other than ya... So thanks for givin' me a chance." Daryl said as he fiddled with the strap of his crossbow over his shoulder before continuing. "I should go now, but I can't take ya bike. I'll be fine walkin'."

"Yeah? You said Alexandria was an hours drive away. You aren't walking that far, especially with those stitches. Take the dirt bike, it's got a full tank." You replied, but you could tell Daryl wanted to keep arguing by the look on his face and you shook your head, crossing your arms over your chest. "It's not up for debate."

"Stubborn woman." Daryl muttered, but you didn't miss the slight upturn of his lips as he smiled. "Take care of yourself, Rabbit. Alexandria is always open if ya change your mind." Daryl reminded and you nodded with a grateful smile as you watched him walk off.

"Daryl. If you come across a group called the Saviours, don't mess with them. Just run, alright?" You warned as Daryl glanced over his shoulder towards in slight confusion, but once he saw the serious expression on your face he simply nodded.

 


	3. Chapter 3

***Six Months Later***

You had began to teach Clementine how to hunt in the woods, satisfied that she was strong enough to draw the string and aim accurately with your old recurve bow that you had found in the attic a few months ago.

You continued to hand plant and grow small gardens and crops around the farm and worked with the animals. You had managed to set up a couple portable solar panels, so you had the lights, fridge and freezer connected to it to keep any game you hunted frozen to last longer than a few days. It also allowed you to have ice on stock at all times which came in handy a few times when Clementine rolled her ankle or whenever you cut or bruised yourself while out working.

However, all in all you guys have had a pretty good past few months, but you still couldn't stop thinking about Daryl and it didn't help that Clementine always bought him up during conversations wondering what he was doing or where he was. You had no idea why you thought about the man so much, you had barely known him for 24 hours and yet six months later you were still thinking about him.

Although things had been good for the past few months, last night Clementine came down with some sort of cold. She had been complaining about a sore throat for the past couple of days, but now it was more than a cold, she was sick. Luckily, it just seemed like a normal cold and had only thrown up once, but you forgot how bad having a cold was especially in this new world. Your father had a large variety of medicines in the house, most of which were still in date which had settled Clementine's stomach down a bit and she hasn't thrown up since.

At first you feared that you might have given her food poisoning from the deer meat that was in the freezer, but that was impossible, you had cooked it until practically burnt just to be sure and the freezer worked perfectly fine so the meat wasn't off. Plus you had eaten the exact same foods and you felt fine, so this was just a normal sickness, but that still didn't make it any better.

It was late afternoon by the time you had finally sat down on the couch, purely exhausted. You had spent all morning cleaning sheets and clothes since the young girl threw up all over herself and her bed during the middle of the night. When you weren't with her, you were outside fixing the side of the barn from when a tree had fallen down and completely destroyed the side of the old wooden building. That was a couple months ago and you had already rebuilt the wooden frame work, but you hadn't had time to finish it off. You made sure you had your walkie talkie on your belt in case Clementine needed you, but the young girl was asleep for most the day anyway.

You were just about to kick your shoes off as you sat down on the couch when out of nowhere someone began knocking on the front door and you instantly froze. Who the hell knocks on doors still? You thought to yourself as you slowly stood up from the couch, your eyes never leaving the front door as you grabbed the pump-action shotgun from behind the couch as you quietly walked towards the door.

It was already dark outside and you couldn't see shit through the small window beside the front door, so you had no idea what to expect. You glanced over your shoulder towards the hallway making sure Clementine hadn't gotten out of bed before you focused back on the front door.

You tightened your grip on the shotgun before you quickly opened the door, aiming the barrel of the gun towards the unknown person, but as soon as you realised who it was you froze in shock.

"M'sorry, Rabbit. Didn't know where else to go." Daryl mumbled in a small voice, but you were too shocked to even say anything back as you took in his appearance. He was wearing a white and brown flannel over a dirty dark blue shirt, his long hair mattered in sweat, dirt and blood and you hated how pale his face was.  What the hell had happened to him? "Ya warned me 'bout 'em, but I didn't listen... I should've listened."

"Hey, relax, I don't know what you're talking about, just come inside. It'll be okay." You said calmly, reaching for Daryl's hand as he flinched away from your touch and you instantly pulled away, knowing that kind of reaction on a personal level. "I'm not going to hurt you, just follow me." You responded, your voice gentle as you leant the shotgun against the wall and began walking back into the lounge room.

Neither of you said anything as you walked into the room, taking a seat on the couch as you watched Daryl sit down beside you with his head down, staring at his lap. Every muscle in your body was telling you to sit closer to him or to at least grab his hand for some form of comfort, but by the way he visibly flinched away from your hand earlier, you knew better than anyone that he needed his space.

"Stay here, I'm gonna go get you water." You said after a few seconds and Daryl just nodded, not even looking at you as you stood up and walked into the kitchen. You grabbed one of the cold water bottles from the fridge, along with the small plate of cooked deer meat, that you were going to have for tea as you quickly put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, silently grateful for your solar panels before you walked back into the lounge room.

Daryl hadn't move at all, but he was now looking around the room, taking in his surroundings so you took that as a positive sign.

You walked back into the room slowly, not wanting to startle him as you sat back down on the couch, making sure to leave a comfortable amount of room between the two of you as you handed him the plate of meat and bottle of water.

"You look like you haven't eaten in days. Please eat." You said, noticing the slight hesitation on the mans face before he nodded, taking the plate and water bottle as he skulled half the bottle before digging into the meat.

You didn't want to stare at him as he ate, he was clearly uncomfortable as it was so you leant back into the couch, fiddling with your long sleeve of your shirt as you tried to think of what Daryl meant by 'I should've listened to ya'.

You were bought back from your thoughts when you heard felt Daryl move on the couch as you looked up to find him putting the now empty plate and water bottle on the coffee table in front of the couch. He sat back down, his eyes glancing over at you for a second before turning back and focusing on the wall on the other side of the room.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" You asked carefully, noticing how his hands were slightly shaking in his lap as he bit the corner of his mouth, clearly thinking about what you just asked.

"The Saviours." Daryl began to explain and you felt your blood turn cold at the mention of the name, a million things flashing through your mind of what they had done to you and your group before Daryl continued. "Negan killed two guys from our group, beat 'em to death with a bat right in front of us, right in front of their partners. He took me back to Sanctuary with 'em, kept me in a damn closet most the time unless he wanted to parade me around whenever he visited Alexandria to take half our shit. Don't know how long I was there for, could be days, could be weeks, time just blurred together, but I eventually escaped. Didn't know if I could make it back to Alexandria, so I came here." Daryl slowly explained, his eyes still glued to the wall across the room as your felt your fingers starting to shake as you thought about all the things Negan and the Saviours would have done to him. God, you wouldn't wish that upon anyone, especially not Daryl.

"Daryl..." You began to say, but stopped when he turned to face you properly for the first time.

"Ya warned me 'bout the Saviours, told me to run if I ever bumped into 'em. But I didn't. Now some of my friends are dead 'cause of me." Daryl began to say, his voice coming out weak and you knew he was the edge of crying as you opened your mouth to reply, but he cut you off. "Don't even try say it wasn't my fault. 'Cause it was, especially Glenn... Negan was only gonna kill _one_ of us, but he was taunting the girlfriend of the man he just killed with his bloodied bat and I punched him. I wasn't thinkin' and I punched him and then he killed Glenn 'cause of my actions." Daryl explained, a stray tear falling down his cheek as he quickly brushed it away.

"I know that whatever I say probably won't matter, but just listen to me, okay? Glenn's death was not your fault, neither was your other friends. Negan was going to kill them no matter what, that's just who he is. He was never just going to kill one of you, Negan likes to put on a show and send a message, he was always going to kill more than one of you. It wasn't on you, Daryl." You replied, hoping that it would take away at least some of his guilt as he continued to stare at you with sad eyes before he nodded slightly as he shifted on the couch, but you didn't miss the slight wince he made as he did.

"Are you hurt?" You quickly asked, worry evident in your tone, but Daryl shook his head and you sighed. You forgot how stubborn this man was. "Don't lie to me, where are you hurt?"

"Was shot in the shoulder, the Saviours doctor checked it though." Daryl answered. Yeah, you did not trust the creepy doctor at the Sanctuary one little bit.

"Alright, get up." You responded, standing up from the couch as you looked over at Daryl who was staring at you in confusion. "I'm going to take a look at the bullet wound and get you some clothes that don't look like they have a lifetime of dirt and stains on them." You added, holding your hand out towards him. You kinda expected him to shake his head and stand up himself, but to your surprise he took it as you helped him up off the couch as you began leading him down the hallway towards your bedroom, his hand still holding yours tightly.

"Sit down, I'll go get the first aid kit and be right back." You said, motioning towards your bed as he nodded, letting go of your hand as you walked out the room.

You quietly snuck your head into Clementine's room, happy that the young girl was still asleep before you walked into the bathroom, grabbing a wash cloth, towel and first aid kit.

When you came back into the room, Daryl was sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the small photo frame you had sitting on your nightstand. It was a photo of your family from before you went away to college, your father, mother, brother and yourself all standing by the front of the house smiling for the photo.

"Take your shirt off, I need to look at the bullet wound." You said, bringing Daryl's attention back to you as he stared at you with a slightly unsure expression and you sighed. "I can't help you if you don't show me the wound." You added and Daryl nodded as he gingerly pulled the flannel and grey shirt off his body and you winced staring at his bare upper body which was covered in a mixture of dirt and bruises, along with the very obvious infected bullet wound on his right shoulder.

"Fucking Saviours." You muttered quietly to yourself as Daryl threw his dirty shirts on the other side of the bed before you placed the objects in your hands on the night stand as you stood in front of where he sat. "The bullet wound is infected, I can clean it up the best I can and give you some antibiotics to help. But, it will probably be better if you have a shower first, you look like you could use it."

"Okay." Daryl simply replied as you walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a pair of jeans and dark blue button down shirt before walking back to Daryl who was still sitting on the bed. "Take that towel and wash cloth too. The bathroom is through there, feel free to use any of the soaps and shampoo that's inside, the shampoo expired a few months ago, but I can't see any issue with it. Just turn the tap on whenever your ready, it might take a few seconds to start running, I gotta turn the generator on." You explained motioning towards the other door in your room which lead to your bathroom before you turned back to Daryl who nodded.

"Thanks." He said quietly, taking the clothes and towel as he began walking towards the bathroom and you had to force yourself not to gasp or say anything when you caught sight of the long scars scattered over his back. They were clearly old scars and you wondered whether he got them near the start of all of this or if they were from his life before, although either way it was terrible.

Shaking your head you quickly turned away and began walking out the room to go turn the generator on which was connected to your water supply. Once you flipped the switch on the generator your brain only just clicked with the fact that you just saw Daryl literally shirtless in your bedroom. Holy shit.

You knew the circumstances were horrible, you knew what he would have went through back at Sanctuary if the bruises and complete lack of hygiene was any indication. But you did have to admit the man had a nice body, his shoulders were brood and muscular and although his stomach didn't have that photoshop six-pack he still very clearly had dense stomach muscles which you found more attractive anyway.

God, you hated yourself for thinking about this. He was hurt, he had been through hell at the Sanctuary and here you were daydreaming about his shirtless body. Get a grip of yourself Y/N, you had been in Daryl's position, you needed to help him.

By the time you finally went back inside you found Daryl walking out the bathroom, his wet hair falling over his face as he stood in the doorway in nothing but the fresh pair of jeans you had given him as he held the shirt in his hand by his side.

"You look better already. Come sit down." You quickly said, realising that you were staring at him for way too long you as walked over to the first air kit on the bedside table to distract yourself.

Daryl sat back down on the edge of the bed, his eyes watching you as you grabbed a small bottle of disinfectant before turning back towards him with a questioning look. Daryl nodded knowing what you were asking before you began to clean and the entry and exit wound from the bullet.

"Where's Clementine?" Daryl asked after a few minutes of silence as you focused on cleaning the infected wounds correctly so they could heal properly this time.

"In bed, she's been sick since last night." You simply explained as Daryl's head shot up in slight worry before you continued. "She's not bit or anything. Just a normal cold." You added and Daryl nodded, wincing slightly as you wiped over the wounds with an alcohol wipe.

Within 10 minutes you had the bullet wound properly cleaned and wrapped in fresh bandages and had given him some antibiotics to speed up the healing process and to keep the infection away.

"Ya seemed to know what ya were doin', were ya a doctor or somethin' before?" Daryl asked as he finished buttoning up the long sleeved shirt slowly, his body still weak from his time at the Sanctuary while you packed up the first aid kit on the bed side table.

"I was training to be a veterinarian, but never got to finish my degree since the dead started to rise." You answered, shutting the first kit as you turned back towards him. "Get some sleep, if you need anything just holler, I'm a light sleeper." You said before you began walking towards the door.

"Wait." Daryl suddenly said, grabbing your hand to stop you from leaving causing you to flinch from his unexpected touch and he quickly let go. "I ain't sleepin' in no bed while you're on a couch. I'll take the couch, Rabbit."

"It's fine. There's a spare room, I'll be in a bed too. But thank you for the offer." You replied, glancing over your shoulder to where he was still sitting on the bed, giving the man a small smile before you walked out the room, shutting the door behind yourself.

Truth be told, there wasn't a spare room, but you knew if you told him that you were taking the couch then he wouldn't let that happen. It was sweet, but he was the injured one, he needed as much rest as he could get. So you grabbed a spare blanket and pillow from the hallway cupboard and made yourself comfortable on the three-seater couch. Daryl had escaped from the Sanctuary, his group was now under the Saviours ruling... what the hell was he going to do next? What were you going to do next?

 


	4. Chapter 4

You woke a few hours later gasping for breath, your hair sticking to your face from sweat as you frantically kicked the blanket off your body and sat up on the couch. The images from your nightmare scorched into your mind as your body trembled. Your cheeks were wet as your heart pounded in your chest.

You had no trouble picturing the Sanctuary as Negan bashed your groups heads in with his bat one by one. Your friends all screaming at you to save them. You were they're leader. You were meant to protect them, but there was nothing you could do as Simon held you back and you had no choice but to watch them get bashed to death.

You could still feel Simons rough fingers grasping your bare body when you and Clementine were locked in the closet at Sanctuary. The way his eyes scanned your body hungrily before he began undoing his belt.

You could still picture that tight leather dress Negan made you wear when you excepted his offer to be his wife. It was the only option you had if you wanted to keep Clem safe, but that never stopped Simon from showing up whenever Negan wasn't around.

You quickly stood up, shaking your head to try get forget about the nightmare. It's been nearly a year and you still had the same nightmares every single night. Was it ever going to stop? Or at least become less frequent?

"God damnit." You sighed quietly, rubbing your face with your hands before you grabbed the small lantern on the coffee table and turned it on so you could actually see what you were doing as you pulled on your boots.

You glanced at the clock on the wall realising it was roughly five in the morning and you sighed, knowing you wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. So you grabbed the lantern and your recurve bow slinging it over your shoulders as well as your quiver of arrows before you walked into the kitchen.

You picked up the walkie talkie from the kitchen bench, clipping it onto your belt beside your knife in case Clementine needed you as you opened the top draw and pulled out a flashlight before you walked towards the front door. You grabbed your cowgirl hat from the hook beside the door on your way out, placing the hat on top of your head as you took a deep breath of the cool morning air.

It was still pitch black outside the moon barely a sliver in the starry night sky as you turned the torch on and began walking down the porch steps. You had no idea where you were going, it was too dark to go out hunting and even you weren't stupid enough to go outside the property fence at night, it was too dangerous.

So you just walked around the property, the flashlight in one hand and the other resting on your bow over your shoulder. Walking always cleared your mind, whether it was outside in the woods hunting or just walking around the property, it always seemed to calm you down.

-

The sun was shining by the time you went back inside and a glance towards the clock on the wall indicated that you were walking around outside for two hours. You sighed walking into the kitchen, dropping your bow and quiver on the bench before you began making breakfast.

Clementine hadn't thrown up since last night so you were hoping that she got all of it up and was on the mend from the cold. The poor girl hadn't been outside in a few days, she's probably itching to get some fresh air, but you knew she needed to rest.

"Thought ya said ya were sleepin' in the spare room?" Daryl muttered from behind you causing you to jump as you turned around to find him leaning against the kitchen bench, his eyes focused on the blanket and pillow on the couch in the lounge room. He looked a lot better already, his skin wasn't as a pale and he seemed to be standing up straighter and not so slouched, like he was when he first showed up last night. But you supposed after some food, water, a shower and a decent nights sleep helped a lot.

"Yeah, I lied. I don't have a spare room." You answered, turning back towards the kitchen bench as you finished cooking the rice. You drained the water and added a few handfuls of corn, peas and chopped up carrot into the saucepan, mixing it all together a few times before pouring it into three bowls. You placed one bowl in the fridge for Clementine later if she was hungry as you grabbed two spoons from the top draw and put them in the remaining two bowls.

"I should've slept on the couch, Rabbit." Daryl stated as you turned back around to him, his eyes glued to you as you handed him one of the bowls.

"You've been in that closet at Sanctuary for God knows how long. Trust me, you needed that bed more than I did. Now, lets go sit outside, its a nice day." You answered, not waiting for him to reply as you stepped passed him and walked back outside.

Neither of you spoke for a while, both sitting on the porch steps eating the bowls of rice. The steps weren't that long, so the two of you were almost sitting shoulder to shoulder, but neither of you seemed to mind.

"Ya warned me 'bout the Saviours all those months ago... How'd ya know about the Saviours?" Daryl finally asked as he placed his now empty bowl on porch behind him before glancing over at you. It was only a matter of time before he asked that question. You were expecting him to ask it last night when he was telling about what the Saviours, but he wasn't himself last night, he wasn't thinking straight after what he would have went through and you didn't blame him.

"Remember when I told you about the people who slaughtered my group and took Clem and I back to their home? That was the Saviours." You explained, not wanting to talk about further as you looked away from the blue eyed archer.

"Wait..." Daryl trailed off and you could tell by the tone in his voice that he was trying to remember or think of something. "You're the Y/N Negan always spoke 'bout, aren't ya? He was always talkin' 'bout this one wife that wasn't like the rest, until she ran away and he never managed to find her... was that you?"

"Yeah, it was. I know what you would have went through at the Sanctuary, I-" You began to say before Daryl suddenly stood up from the steps, cutting you off.

"Ya don't know shit." He growled, staring at you in way you had never seen before as he stood a few metres in front of you. You knew you should probably feel intimidated and scared by his sudden outburst and tense posture, but you were more confused than anything.

"Excuse me?" You questioned, staring at the man who only 12 hours ago was standing in front of your house weak and vulnerable.

"Ya were one of his damn wives. Ya don't know nothin' 'bout what I went through. Ya lived in damn luxury by Negan's side!" He shouted, throwing his arms in the air in frustration as you shook your head, your confusion quickly turning into anger.

"Who the hell are you to judge me? You don't know what I went through at the Sanctuary!" You responded, trying to keep your voice low since Clementine was still asleep inside.

"I can take a pretty damn good guess." Daryl muttered, and that was it. You quickly stood up from the steps so you were no longer looking up at Daryl as you stood a few metres away from him.

"Really? Would you have guessed that they threw Clementine and I into a closet? Stripped us both naked and locked us in the dark? That they wouldn't give us anything other than a cup of water and a slice of moly bread a day?" You shouted, glaring at him and you noticed his expression suddenly softened as guilt flashed across his face, but you weren't finished yet. "I tried to keep her safe, it was all about keeping Clementine safe. But, Simon... he'd try get to her, said he had a thing for little girls, but I wouldn't let him touch her and it cost me. The beatings I could handle, hell I wished for them sometimes because it was better than the alternative. Then after a few weeks Negan gave me an offer to be his wife, saying it was the only way to keep Clementine safe... So I said yes."

"Rabbit-" Daryl began to say softly, but you cut him off.

"We tried escaping once, Clementine had a bobby pin in her hair and I managed to pick the lock. We barely made it 20 metres before Simon found us. Said that he should kill the kid for what we tried to do, so he made me choose. It was either Clementine died or he gave me the iron." You began to explain and by the shocked look on Daryl's face he must have known what the iron was, so you continued talking.

"Most people got the iron against the side of their face like Dwight, but Simon didn't want to ruin 'my pretty little face' so he improvised." You explained as you took a step back and lifted up your shirt exposing the large iron shaped burn scar over the right side of your stomach.

You saw Daryl visibly tense when he his eyes landed on the very distinct rough burn mark. It didn't heal properly, the stupid doctor at the Sanctuary barely bandaged it up, let alone properly cleaning it.

God, you hated doctors before the world turned to shit, but now it was just a whole new level. The days you spent on that damn hospital bed sick as dog because of how infected the burn was and of course Simon took advantage of your vulnerability, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was not being able to see Clementine for nearly four days, although Sherry and a few other wives took care of her and didn't let any of the Saviours near her and for that you were grateful.

"Yes, I was one of Negan's wives. But my time at the Sanctuary was far from luxurious." You sighed, pushing your shirt back down as you rubbed your face with your hands getting rid of any evidence that tears were in your eyes. You looked back over at Daryl who was staring at you in a mixture of shock and sorrow. "Do what you want with that information, I'm gonna go let the animals out the stables. You're still recovering and you need to rest, go sit down." You said, nodding back towards the front door before you began walking off in the direction of the stables, not giving him a chance to reply. 

-

He shouldn't have said any of that. He shouldn't have assumed anything about her. He knew better than that, but the thought of her by Negan's side made him see red and he didn't even realise how rude and arrogant he had been until she snapped at him. He deserved it, he deserved a lot more than her just yelling at him, but a part of him knew that you would never hurt him. It was weird how comfortable he felt around you, despite still barely knowing you. He had let his walls down for you, he let you in without a second thought and it scared the shit out of him.

But what you had said about the Saviours, about what you had went through... He knew what it was like inside that dark closet stripped of your clothes with that same stupid song playing on repeat, you never said anything about the song, but he suspected that you didn't tell him everything about what you went through. He knew what it was like to only be fed a small amount of water and mouldy bread, he knew what it was like to receive countless of beatings from the Saviours.

But, the stuff Simon had done to her... you didn't go into detail about it, you barely said anything about it, but Daryl knew where it was going. He didn't need you to explain any further to know that Simon had done things to you, bad things.

Daryl remembered how brave and strong you were when he first met you, but he also noticed the little things like how you'd flinch away at human contact or tense up whenever a voice was raised. He just assumed that you had been through some shit like they all had. He knew he was a bit skittish when it came to human contact from all the beatings his old man used to give him, stuff like that stayed with you, even during the apocalypse. But now he realised the story behind you and he hoped like hell that you'd never have to go through something like that again.

He had watched you walk off towards the stables, deep in his own mind that he never heard Clementine open the front door of the house until he turned around to go back inside and nearly walked right into the young girl.

"Sorry, kid. Didn't see ya there." Daryl quickly apologised as she jumped back to avoid crashing into him.

"My fault, I shouldn't have been eavesdropping." The young girl admitted with a sheepish smile as the two of them began walking back into the house. She was still in what Daryl assumed was her pyjamas, she was in pink pants with white stars and a matching button down long sleeved shirt, it definitely looked like pyjamas. She must have only just woken up, Y/N did say she was sick yesterday.

"Ya heard all that?" He asked, not really sure if Y/N wanted the girl to hear everything she had said, but it was a bit late now.

"Yeah." Clementine sighed, walking over to the couch as she sat down on the single seater while Daryl sat down on the three seater where you had slept for the night, pushing the blanket down the other end of the couch where your pillow was.

"Y/N protected me at the Sanctuary. She always protects me. She gave me the blanket Simon threw in our closet when we were naked, so I could cover myself up, she gave me most of her food and water. She would stand in front of me every time that door opened so the Saviours couldn't see or get to me. The worst thing I got was a slap across my face when I tried stopping Simon from burning her with the iron... But Y/N got a more than a slap, even if she hadn't done anything wrong..." Clementine explained as she fiddled with the loose thread of her pyjama shirt and Daryl's heart ached for the little girl. She was just a kid, she shouldn't have had to see all of this, let alone go through it.

"None of that was your fault, ya know that right? Y/N would have done anythin' to protect ya, she didn't care about the consequences." Daryl replied and although you had never said that to him, he knew it was true. He saw how protective you were of the young girl when he first came to the farm as a complete stranger and he knew she wasn't your daughter, but you sure did treat her like family.

"Yeah, I know. But, I don't want Y/N having to protect me all the time, she's starting to teach me some self defence skills and she's already taught me how to shoot a gun and a bow. Soon I'll be able to protect myself too." The young girl said and Daryl couldn't help the slight twitch in his lips at how proud the girl sounded. She was definitely going to grow up into one strong independent woman, that was for sure.

"I didn't think you would come back. Were you taken by the Saviours too?" She asked after a few minutes of silence and Daryl simply nodded, not really knowing what to say to that and he didn't really want to think about it. "I'm sorry."

"S'alright. Weren't ya sick yesterday? How ya feelin'?"

"Better. Y/N gave me some medicine last night, my tummy doesn't hurt anymore." She answered and Daryl was relieved with that, the last thing that poor girl needed was a bad cold or flu.

"Y/N made breakfast earlier, want me to heat it up for ya?" He asked, glancing over at her on the other couch as she nodded before he got up off the couch and made his way towards the kitchen.

He saw you put a spare bowl in the fridge and he could hear the generator running from outside so he popped the bowl into the microwave to heat the rice up. After mixing it a few times to make sure all of it was heated, he managed to find a spoon after open countless of draws in the process before he walked back into the lounge room.

He gave her the bowl, warning her that it might be a bit hot as he grabbed Y/N's blanket and wrapped it around Clem, noticing she was shivering slightly before he sat back down on the other couch.

A few minutes later you finally walked back inside, but you stopped when you noticed Clementine awake, wrapped in a blanket and sitting on the couch eating breakfast. You caught sight of Daryl sitting on the other couch, already looking in your direction and you realised that he must have gotten her the blanket and food as you smiled softly mouthing 'thank you' to him and he just nodded.

"Feeling better, sweetie?" You asked, walking into the lounge room as she nodded and you sighed with relief. Looks like the worst of her cold was over with. "That's good, just take it easy today."

"So no hunting?" Clementine asked sadly and you chuckled, shaking your head.

"Not today, maybe tomorrow I'll take you out." You replied as she nodded before continuing with her breakfast. "What's your plan? Saviours have your community on a leash, you going to go back?"

"I have to, I ain't leavin' 'em. Rick'll have a plan, they'll be plannin' on fightin' the Saviours." Daryl replied as you sat down on the couch beside him. "We don't have guns no more, but we met another community, so we might be able to fight together." He explained, staring at the coffee table as he spoke and you knew he felt bad about what he said earlier.

"Good, the Saviours need to be stopped." You replied as Daryl stood up from the couch. "Wait, no, you aren't leaving yet. You're still recovering, stay for one more night." You replied, as Daryl glanced down at you with a shake of his head. "Daryl, hey, you won't be any use to your friends and family if you're still recovering."

"I know, but you've done enough for me already." He replied, but you shook your head as you grabbed his arm and pulled him back down onto the couch. "What are ya doin'?"

"You're staying here and it isn't up for discussion." You replied sternly and Daryl sighed, looking over at you through his hair.

"It's not up for discussion." Clementine repeated and you both glanced across the room at the young girl who was smiling at both you and you heard Daryl chuckle slightly.

"Alright, I ain't gonna win this argument am I?" He asked, glancing between the two of you with an amused expression.

"Nope." You and Clementine both replied at the same time causing the young girl to giggle, making you and Daryl smile as well.

"Do ya still have that map I gave ya?" Daryl asked after a few seconds of silence, catching you off guard slightly and you nodded.

"Yeah, why?" You questioned, glancing over at the archer as he reached for the pen on top of the coffee table.

"That other community I said earlier, I'll mark it on the map. It's a bit closer than Alexandria and although the leader is a dick, if you need to go there, ask for Jesus... it's a nickname, but ask for him and tell him that you know me." Daryl explained as you grabbed the map that you kept folded up on the kitchen bench before walking back into the lounge room and handing it to him.

"That's a strange nickname, but thank you." You replied, half shocked that there was another community near by, but relieved that Daryl knew them. If one of their people happened to find this place you'll be able to tell them that you knew Daryl and that you weren't a threat and hopefully they'd believe you.

"It's around this area, kinda on top of a hill. Ya can't miss it." Daryl informer as he circled a small section on the map, naming it _Hilltop_ just like he had done all those months ago when he wrote _Alexandria_.

So much had changed for him during those past six months, his life would have been turned completely upside when the Saviours found them. But for you and Clementine, nothing had changed in those six months. God, you hoped like hell that Daryl and his friends could take out the Saviours... maybe then you might talk to Clementine about checking out Alexandria maybe? Daryl seemed to want you there and you knew eventually this farm would fall. It didn't have high steel walls, it just had tall paddock fences lining the property, a large herd could easily push through and bust the fences if they wanted to and then what were you going to do?

"Thank you, seriously thank you. It's good to know there's somewhere we can go if this place falls." You replied as Daryl handed you the map, your fingers brushing over his as you grabbed it, staring at the location of the community which seemed to be only a 20 minutes ride from the farm.

"Ya don't need a reason to come to Alexandria, ya know that, right?" Daryl asked, glancing up at you through his long hair and you nodded. But there was no way you'd go there when the Saviours were around, no matter how much you wanted to, you couldn't put Clementine in danger like that.

 


	5. Chapter 5

The next few hours went by fairly quickly, Daryl helped you with the dishes and then helped Clementine with her homework. You insisted that she could miss todays work, but for some reason she wanted to learn and do the work, which was crazy to you. You used to do anything to try get out of school when you were her age, but times have definitely changed.

"Alright, what's the next question Miss Y/N has written down there?" Daryl asked, glancing over at Clementine who was now sitting on the three seat couch beside him as you watched on from the kitchen, trying to stop yourself from smiling, but it was impossible. Seeing Daryl interact with Clementine like this just did things to you, he was so good with her.

"What is 15 multiplied by 11?" She asked and in an instant Daryl's head spun around in your direction with a shocked expression as you shrugged your shoulders.

"And she's meant to answer these without a calculator? I can't even do that without a calculator." Daryl responded, glancing back down at Clementine who had already began solving the equation and you chuckled before turning back towards the stew on top of the stove, stirring the mixture a few times so it didn't stick to the bottom of the pot.

"It's called long multiplication, it's super easy." Clementine replied, looking up at Daryl before she continued writing on the sheet of paper as Daryl scoffed in disbelief.

"Alright, smarty pants. What's the answer?" He asked.

"165." She answered in a confident tone as she put the pencil down on the paper and looked up at Daryl as he glanced over at you with a questioning look and you nodded to indicate that she had gotten it right.

"I told you, she's a smart kid."

"Smart is an understatement. Alright, you're too smart for book work. How 'bout I teach ya how to read a map?" He suggested, and Clementine's eyes went wide in excitement as she quickly nodded, grabbing the map from the coffee table and handing to Daryl.

You continued cooking lunch, cutting up a few carrots and potatoes that you and Daryl picked from the garden earlier as you listened to Daryl teach Clementine about maps and how to navigate them.

It was strange how normal this domestic situation felt to you, how normal it was to watch Daryl teach and mess around with Clementine. If it wasn't for the dead walking around outside, you could almost see that this is what it would have felt like to have a normal life and a normal family. Although you doubted that you and Daryl would have crossed paths if none of this happened, hell you doubted you'd ever meet Clementine and you couldn't imagine your life without that little girl.

"Alright, it's a late lunch, but it's still lunch. Come get your bowls." You called out as you finished pouring the stew into the three bowls on the bench, quickly rinsing out the pot so it was easy to wash later when you did the dishes.

"Smells good." Daryl commented as him and Clementine walked into the kitchen and you didn't miss how she was holding onto the back of his shirt as they walked around the bench and your heart swelled at the sight. She only did that to people she trusted... how was she going to react when Daryl goes back to his people tomorrow?

Within a few minutes the three of you were sitting at the kitchen table, eating the stew. You could feel Daryl glancing over at you from across the table occasionally and you knew he still felt bad for what he had said earlier, but you didn't blame him. Negan's wives did live in luxury, but he didn't know what you had went through before that.

-

You spent the rest of the day playing board games with Daryl and Clementine, although Daryl was determined to beat her at least one, since she kept kicking both your asses. However, by the time Clementine went to bed neither of you had come close to winning a game.

"Well, we both just got owned by a 11 year old." You commented, walking back into the main room after making sure Clementine was in bed as you made your way into the kitchen and opened the top cupboard.

"You more of a scotch or whiskey kinda man?" You asked, glancing over your shoulder towards Daryl who was packing up the last board game from where he sat at the kitchen table.

"Either." Daryl replied, watching you in curiosity as you pulled out a vintage bottle of Jameson Whiskey and then proceeded to grab two glass cups filled with ice before walking back over to him. "Haven't had good stuff like this for years." He admitted, already tasting the alcohol on his lips as he watched you pour the liquid into the glasses.

"My father used to collect this stuff, only bought it out on special occasions." You explained, sliding a glass over to Daryl who was sitting opposite you as you took a sip of yours with a sigh. God, you missed the taste of alcohol and by the pleased expression on Daryl's face as he took a drink, he felt the same.

Two hours and half the bottle later, you were learning things about each other that you probably would have never known if it wasn't for the alcohol in your systems. You told him about your life on the farm and life at collage for two years before the dead started to rise. You told him about how you ran into a man named Lee and how the two of you found Clementine who was hiding in her treehouse in her parents backyard. In return Daryl told you more about himself.

He told you a bit about his childhood, how he grew up with his older brother, Merle and his asshole of a father who used to beat the two of them and was blackout drunk more times than not. He told you about the scars on his back and across his chest, which you had seen earlier, but you never expected that they were caused from child abuse. What kind of father would do that to his own sons? No child deserves that, especially not Daryl.

"Alright, I've practically spilled ya my life story. I think it's time to call it a night." Daryl muttered, fiddling with his empty glass on the table and you chuckled, but nodded in agreement. You weren't a light weight, but after nearly drinking half the bottle between you, you were starting to feel it slightly.

"Yeah, I'll take the couch." You replied slowly standing up from the table as you began walking towards the couch.

"Nah, I'll take the couch. It's your bed." Daryl quickly replied standing up and grabbing your wrist gently to stop you from walking over to the couch as you looked up at him, taking in his crystal blue eyes, only just realising how close the two of you were standing.

"Well... it's a queen bed, we could always share it...?" You suggested, looking down as you felt your cheeks starting to blush and you knew for a fact that if it wasn't for the alcohol then you wouldn't have had the confidence to say that.

Daryl didn't say anything for a few seconds as he processed what you had just said, but you knew he was staring at you, but you refused to meet his gaze, feeling as though you might have crossed a line.

"Ya sure that's a good idea, Rabbit? We've both had a bit to drink, ya sure you're okay with that?" He asked carefully, gently resting his hand on your shoulder to try get you to look at him.

"We're both adults right? We can sleep in the same bed for one night." You replied, glancing up at Daryl with a questioning look as he nodded in agreement and you smiled. "Alright, well we have two showers, I'll take the main one down the hall since your towel and stuff is already in the shower by my room. Just give me a sec to turn the generator on."

-

20 minutes later you walked back into your bedroom, your long sleeved flannel shirt and denim jeans swapped for a pair of pyjama pants and a black singlet. You noticed Daryl already sitting in the bed, his back resting against the head rest, but his attention was focused on the small book in his hands and you knew it was one of your collage veterinary books.

"I hated that book when I first started collage. I didn't understand anything inside it, couldn't even imagine having to amputated a limb or something on a dog, I was so scared to learn all that stuff." You said, walking into the room as you threw your flannel, jeans and belt onto the desk on the other side of the room, beside your weapons minus the small handgun that you kept on your nightstand.

"Ya can do all that stuff now?" He asked curiously, placing the book down on the bedside table on his side of the bed as you turned the lamp on before turning the room light off.

"Yeah, has come in handy a fair few times too. My old group didn't have a doctor or anything, I was as close as it got so I've had to patch a few wounds and stitch up a few cuts during the past few years." You replied, as you climbed under the sheets beside him, your leg brushing his slightly, but he remained sitting up while you laid down on your back, pulling the covers up over your chest.

"Mmm, including me. Thanks for that why by the way. For the cut on my thigh when we first met and for the past two days." Daryl said, glancing down at you with a soft smile.

"I should charge by the hour. I'd be rich in no time." You joked causing Daryl to snort shaking his head in amusement before he began to lie down on the mattress beside you. Neither of you said anything for a while as you stared up at the ceiling, only just realising that the corners of the ceiling had pretty patterns painted on it. How long had those patterns been there for? Were they there when you used to live at home or did your parents decide to paint them after you moved out?

"M'sorry for what I said this mornin'. I had no right to say that shit, especially after what ya went through." Daryl apologised quietly, taking you away from your thoughts about the pattern on the ceiling as you turned your head towards him.

"You didn't know, it's not your fault." You replied, as Daryl rolled onto his side so he was facing you with a sympathetic expression.

"What Simon did to ya... M'gonna kill 'em, Rick and the others will be plannin' on takin' 'em out, M'gonna make sure it happens." Daryl muttered, trying to stop anger seeping through his tone as he stared at you. How could someone do all that horrible stuff to such a beautiful kind hearted woman? Daryl thought to himself.

"Just don't get yourself hurt or killed while doing it, okay? Those assholes deserve to die, but not if it means you do as well. Promise me you'll be careful?" You said, brushing his hair away from his face so you could see him properly, his eyes locking with yours.

"Ya care if I'd died?" He asked quietly, his voice slightly unsure as he stared at you.

"Of course I would. It might not seem like it, but I do care about you Daryl." You admitted, feeling your cheeks blush slightly as you noticed Daryl's eyes glance down at your lips, only just realising how close the two of you actually were as you laid on the bed facing each other.

Neither of you said anything for a few seconds before Daryl slowly lifted his hand, running his fingers through your hair before he moved his hand towards your cheek, cupping it softly as he slowly began tilting his head towards you, giving you enough time to pull away,.

Time stopped for those few seconds, as his lips hit yours and for a moment you forgot about everything around you as he kissed you tenderly. His hands running through your hair as you began to kiss him back.

He pulled away slightly as he began trailing soft love kisses down your neck, his hand running through your hair as his other slid around your waist, under your singlet as he pulled your closer to his body. It took a few seconds for your brain to start working again and you knew you needed to stop this, it wasn't fair on Daryl if you let him believe that something more would come from this.

"W-wait. It's not like that... I'm not like that." You stuttered, pulling away from him slightly, his hands immediately letting go of your waist afraid that he had done something wrong as you tried to find the right words. You had never had to try explain to someone or even tell someone that you were asexual before. Not a lot of people knew what asexuality was and you doubted that Daryl did. But, you knew you needed to continue speaking, because Daryl was staring at you in a mixture of confusion and concern and you sighed. "I'm just not interested in sex." You said, mentally face palming yourself for how straight forward that was.

You stared at Daryl, waiting for some kind of angry or annoyed reaction, but he just slowly nodded as he processed what you had just said and you hated how unreadable his expression was, although he didn't seem angry so that was a start.

"What Simon did to ya back at the Sanctuary... that made ya this way?" He asked in a gentle tone, his body starting to relax now that he knew he hadn't done anything wrong as he stared at you in curiosity.

"No, I've always been like this." You answered, looking away from his gaze nervously. He didn't say anything for a moment and you thought you might have completely ruined everything before he carefully rested his index finger under your chin, forcing you to look at him. But to your surprise his deep blue eyes weren't full of hatred, they were soft and calming as he gave you a small smile.

"That's perfectly fine. I get it." Daryl simply replied like it wasn't a big deal, but you knew how some people reacted and it was a big deal to most, but for some reason he didn't seem to care about it.

"Wait, you're not angry?" You asked in confusion. "Most people want sex, they believe that it's the most important thing and-"

"Ya thought I was gonna be angry at ya? I don't care if we have sex or not, I don't like ya for sex, I just like ya for you. I don't see the big deal about sex, never really have unless it's with someone I really care 'bout." Daryl explained, his cheeks blushing softly as he moved his fingers from the bottom of your chin to your shoulder as he fixed the strap of your singlet.

"Are you demisexual?" You asked quietly as he frowned in confusion.

"Demi what?"

"Demisexual, it means you don't experience sexual attraction for someone until you have an emotional connection to them first, if that makes sense? So you don't really think about sex with strangers, only with someone you have a strong emotional connection to." You tried to explain as Daryl again nodded slowly processing what you had just told him.

"Didn't know there was a word for that, didn't know other people felt like that either. Thought there was just somethin' wrong with me." Daryl admitted, shaking his head, but you didn't miss the small smile on his lips now that he knew he wasn't alone.

"I used to think the exact same thing. Growing up, everyone around me always talked about sex and how great it was and all that, but I just didn't understand how or why people desired it so much. To me it's just another activity, like playing a sport or watching a movie or something and I'd much rather just watch a movie than have sex." You explained and Daryl chuckled, but you knew he wasn't judging you.

"So you're not demisexual, you're something else, right?" Daryl asked in an uncertain tone as you nodded.

"I'm asexual. Which basically means I don't experience sexual attraction. I still experience attraction and can appreciate when someone is attractive, like yourself, but I don't want to have sex with people just because I think they're attractive." You answered, hoping that you explained it properly. It was a hard topic to explain, to you, it completely made sense, but you knew it was harder for most people to grasp.

"That actually makes a lot of sense." He replied and you sighed with relief causing Daryl to smile. "Tell me if I do something you don't feel comfortable with. Is this okay?" He asked as he began moving his arm around your shoulders as you shifted slightly, resting your head against his chest.

"Yeah." You replied as you felt him place a gentle kiss to the top of your head before he leant over and turned the lamp off. "Goodnight, Daryl."

"Goodnight, Rabbit."

 


	6. Chapter 6

You woke up to the sight of Daryl half laying on the bed and half laying on top of you. His head resting over your stomach and you could feel one his legs wrapped around yours and you smiled. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, although his long hair was covering most of his face, you could still see that his eyes were closed and his mouth open slightly as he snored softly.

You didn't want Daryl to leave, you didn't want this to end, but you knew he had to go back to his group. They were his family and he wouldn't leave them alone to deal with the Saviours themselves and you couldn't go back with him. You couldn't risk Negan or the Saviours finding you or Clementine again, you couldn't put her in danger like that, it was a too big of a risk.

You were pulled away from your thoughts when you felt Daryl beginning to stir, his arm wrapping around your waist protectively before he slowly began to wake up. You watched as his eyes blinked open, his body quickly turning tense before his eyes landed on yours as he began to relax before he realised he was practically cuddling you as he pulled away.

"Sorry." He mumbled, still half asleep as he laid on his back on his side of the bed, turning his head towards you and you smiled.

"Don't be, it was a good way to wake up." You replied, leaning towards him as you placed a gentle kiss to his forehead before he lifted his head and grabbed your chin as he kissed you on the lips. "I haven't brushed my teeth yet." You said softly as he pulled away with a small chuckle.

"It's the apocalypse Rabbit, ya really think I'd care 'bout that?" He asked with a hint of amusement in his tone as you shrugged your shoulders and he kissed you again before pulling away, his hand still resting on the side of your face as his thumb brushed over your cheek.

"I don't want you to go." You admitted, and Daryl nodded.

"I know, but I gotta. Once it's all over, I'll come back, maybe you and Clem could come to Alexandria with me once the Saviours are gone?" He suggested with hopeful eyes and you quickly nodded.

"I would really like that and I think Clem would as well. If Rick is okay with it, he's the leader right?" You asked, you remembered Daryl telling you who the leader of his group was, but you weren't 100 percent sure if you got the name right.

"Yeah, he is and Rick wouldn't mind. He'd be more than happy to let you guys stay at Alexandria after what you've done for me." Daryl replied, running his fingers through your hair gently.

"Speaking of that, let me check that bullet wound. Might need to more antiseptic cream on it." You said motioning for Daryl to take his shift off as he rolled eyes, but listened and sat up in bed, pulling his shirt off.

You followed his lead, kicking the blankets off your body as you sat up on your knees to get a proper look at the bullet wound. It looked a lot better from when you had first seen it, but you grabbed the cream from the nightstand anyway, it was still a little inflamed and figured the cream would help with that.

You carefully squeezed a bit of the cream onto your fingers before you gently rubbed it over and around the healing wound, Daryl flinched slightly at your touch, but quickly relaxed as your fingers brushed over his bare skin. You took in his toned and scarred body and the few tattoos he had painted over his back, chest and arms, but quickly snapped yourself out of it.

"It's looking a lot better." You commented, wiping the excess cream off on your pyjama pants before you screwed the cap back on the cream and placed it back on the nightstand.

"Feels a lot better." Daryl replied, as he began putting his shirt back on. The bruises over his stomach and chest had already started to fade and he wasn't wincing anymore when he tried to move which was a good sign.

"Do you want to stay for breakfast before you leave?" You asked, watching as he began buttoning up his shirt, but shook he head and your heart sunk.

"Nah, gotta get back to Alexandria and talk to Rick." Daryl replied with a hint of sorrow and you nodded in understanding, but you couldn't help but feel sad about it. You didn't want him to go, because deep down you knew there was chance you'd never see him again.

"Alright, but you're taking food for the road and you're taking one of the trucks." You responded and you could tell Daryl was about to argue as you shook your head. "It wasn't a question. You aren't walking all the way back to Alexandria while the Saviours are out there and you need food. Now get up, I'll go see if Clementine is awake, she'll want to say goodbye." You said and Daryl nodded as you stood up from the bed, grabbing your clothes and weapons from the desk before making your way out the room.

Once you went to the toilet and got changed out of your pyjamas, you stuck your head into Clementine's bedroom, spotting the girl sitting up in her bed drawing something before she glanced over at you with a happy smile.

"Morning, beautiful. Daryl's going to leave soon, so get up and dressed." You informed as Clementine nodded before you walked back out her room.

You glanced back towards your bedroom, the door still shut so you assumed Daryl was still getting ready as you made your way outside, slinging your bow and quiver over your shoulder.

The sun was just starting to rise above the tree tops in the distance as you took in the morning sunlight before a familiar humming noise filled your eyes. You chuckled spotting the alpaca walking around outside the stables, clearly having gotten out during the night. It wasn't the first time the brown alpaca had gotten out of the stables and you still couldn't figure out how he kept getting out, but he seemed to be enjoying his freedom and eating down the grass that he couldn't normally get to.

You made a mental note to get him back in the yard later today, he wasn't harming anyone and he couldn't get past the fences around the properly so he was safe.

You began making your way towards the shed which was built right beside the car garage where you had met Daryl all those months ago. You found yourself smiling at the memory before you opened the door to the shed, allowing the sunlight to light up the room.

It was your fathers old shed where he kept all his tools and spare parts mostly, but also where he kept his gun cabinet by the far wall. You walked over to the workbench first, grabbing the key that was stuck under the bench before making your way towards the cabinet, unlocking the padlock with the key as the large door opened.

There were weapons ranging from pump-action shotguns to semi-automatic assault rifles to sniper rifles. Most of which belong to your father, but there were also arrows, knives, a tomahawk, a shitload of bullets and a crate full of explosives that you had found at an old army base a few weeks ago.

If Daryl and his people were going to stand a chance against the Saviours then they were gonna need weapons. You walked out the work shed and into the garage as you started up one of the trucks, making sure the tank was full before you reversed it out the garage and parked it near the door of the work shed.

You began filling up duffle bags full of guns, trying to keep all the shotguns with the shotgun shell, snipers with the high calibre rounds and so on. You were suddenly extremely grateful that your father was a gun fanatic, otherwise he probably wouldn't have taught you how to shoot and wouldn't have had all these weapons laying around and if it wasn't for that then you probably wouldn't be here right now.

By the time you finished loading the weapons into the bed of the truck you heard the front door to the house open with a squeak and you glanced over your shoulder. Clementine was walking outside followed by Daryl who was holding a bag and you knew it contained the rabbit meat you had already cooked and left in the fridge. You had taught Clementine well.

"Umm Clem, why is there a llama walking towards us?" You heard Daryl ask causing the little girl to chuckle as she shrugged her shoulders, not realising that the alpaca had gotten out.

"It's an alpaca, not a llama." You called as Daryl's eyes glanced in your direction as you leant against the truck before he looked back over at the alpaca catiously, but the animal was too busy eating grass to notice him. "He won't hurt you, don't know how he got out the stables though."

"Smart animal." Daryl muttered, eyeing the alpaca for a few more seconds before he continued following Clem as the two of them walked over to the truck. "What's all this?" Daryl asked motioning towards the duffle bags in the back of the truck.

"Stuff your people are gonna need if you want to beat the Saviours. Weapons, ammo, explosives, Clementine and I don't need all this stuff. We have a shotgun inside and we both have pistols, that's all we need." You replied, watching as Daryl leant over the side of the truck and opened one of the bags to find four M16 assault rifles with over 10 magazines full of bullets.

"Holy shit, I can't take all this." Daryl replied, zipping the bag back up as he turned towards you.

"You can and you will. There's also a crate of explosives in there as well. You take all that stuff, give it to Rick and you blow the Sanctuary up, end the Saviours before more people get hurt or die." You ordered, glancing over at Clem who was walking towards the alpaca, more focused on the animal than yours and Daryl's conversation which was good.

"I know, but Rick won't like the idea of blowing up the Sanctuary, not when the workers and civilians are inside." Daryl muttered, leaning his back against the truck beside you as you both watched Clementine play with the alpaca.

"The workers and civilians have just as much blood on their hands as Negan's soldiers do. They have every chance to escape the Sanctuary, just like Clem and I did, just like you did, but yet they stay loyal to Negan and that won't ever change. All of them watched when Simon burned me with the iron, Negan wasn't even there, yet they still did nothing to stop it. None of them deserve to live." You explained, trying to stop the anger rising in your voice as you thought back to your weeks at the Sanctuary.

"I'll tell Rick that, but I'm gonna have to tell him 'bout ya if I wanna try convince him to blow the Sanctuary." Daryl replied after a few seconds and you nodded.

"I kinda figured you were gonna have to tell your group about me one way or another, how else are you meant to explain where all these weapons came from?" You asked gesturing towards the back of the truck with a hint of a smile and Daryl nodded. "Just, promise me that once it's over with the Saviours, that you'll come back for me and Clem?"

"I promise, Rabbit." Daryl replied in a sincere tone and you nodded before looking back over at Clem and waving at her to come back over to you guys as she jogged back towards the two of you, giving Daryl a sad smile.

"Goodbye, Daryl." The little girl said, wrapping her arms around his stomach as she hugged him and to your surprise Daryl didn't flinch as he hugged her back.

"This ain't goodbye kid, I'll see you guys again." He replied as Clementine pulled away with a hopeful smile.

"Really?" She asked and Daryl nodded.

"Someone's gotta make sure ya remember those map readin' skills I taught ya." Daryl joked rubbing her head playfully causing her to giggle as she fixed her cap before he turned his attention towards you, his crystal blue eyes locking with yours and you sighed.

"The keys are in the ignition." You said, pushing yourself off the side of the truck so Daryl could get to the drivers side door and he nodded.

"Thank you, for everythin'." Daryl said and you nodded with a small smile before he opened up the drivers side door about to climb into the vehicle.

"Daryl." You quickly said, stopping him as he turned back around towards you as you walked the remaining few steps towards him, wrapping your arms around his neck as you kissed him. You heard Clementine gasp in shock before saying 'ew' but neither of you cared as he kissed you back. "Just don't get hurt again, alright?"

"I ain't planning on it." He replied, pulling away as he glanced down at Clem giving her a small smile before he climbed into the truck and starting the engine. "I'll see you guys soon." He said, putting the car into gear as you and Clementine waved him goodbye as he drove off.

-

Nothing happened for the next couple of weeks, the alpaca continued to escape the stables most nights so you gave up on trying to keep him with the other animals. Clementine would constantly bring up your kiss with Daryl, teasing you about him and constantly asking if the two of you were dating which you had no idea how to answer. You both liked each other, but hell, you didn't even know if he was alive still and did people still date in this new world? You had no idea.

You woke up earlier this morning to the sound of an explosion and you went outside to see where it had came from. It was barely daylight outside, but you could see smoke way off in the distance and you knew it belong to the Sanctuary. Daryl's group had finally blew the Sanctuary.

"Y/N, I think the alpaca taught one of the horses how to get out the stables, because there's a horse by the veranda." Clementine said an hour later from the kitchen as you glanced over your shoulder towards her to find her looking out the kitchen window.

"We'll get them back inside in the afternoon, they'll be fine for now." You replied, turning your attention back towards the map you had laid out over the coffee table while you continued eating your breakfast. You had been trying to memorise the area, trying to find places that might be good for scavenging and stuff like that. You knew almost every route to Alexandria and the Hilltop off by heart because you have studied that map so much. Man, you really needed to find a book store or something.

"Ummm, Y/N? All the animals are out and they're just running around everywhere like crazy." Clementine said a few minutes later and you froze. How did all of them get out? The only way all of them could get out was if they had busted open the paddock fence, but they wouldn't do that, there was plenty of grass and hay for them to eat... unless they were scared and trying to get away from someone or something. Shit. "There's walkers in the yard!" Clementine yelled a split second later, confirming your suspicion as you jumped up from the couch and raced towards the lounge room window.

"Shit." You muttered under your breath as you looked through the window spotting a herd of walkers roaming through the animals paddock, already tearing down the stables with the sheer number of them and you knew a herd that size would tear the whole house apart.

"Clem, get your gun, stay quiet." You shouted in a whisper as you sprinted towards the kitchen bench, throwing your quiver and bow over your shoulder before grabbing the shotgun from behind the front door, shoving bullets into the pockets of your jeans and flannel.

"I can't find my bow." She said quietly running out of her bedroom back towards you with a panicked expression and you knew she was freaking out.

"Doesn't matter, come on. We need to get to the shed to get a car, we can't fight off this herd." You informed as you began loading the shotgun shells into the chamber before cocking the gun.

"What about the house? Can't we just hide inside and wait for the herd to pass?"

"A herd that big will just tear this place apart, we need to get out of here. Just stay close and follow me." You ordered, double checking the shotgun before you opened the front door, taking in the chaos around the farm. Walkers were everywhere. Half the animals were running around like crazy trying to get away from the walkers, the other half already dead and being eaten alive.

You took two steps onto the porch before firing the shotgun, taking down the two walkers by the steps before you glanced towards the garage, but walkers were surrounding it completely. There was no way you'd be able to get through them and get a car. Shit.

"Y/N!" Clementine yelled and you quickly turned around in panic, expecting her to be in trouble, but what you didn't expect was to find her sitting on the back of one of the horses shouting at you to come and join her. "Come on!" She shouted and you didn't waste any time as you ran towards her, climbing up onto the horse behind Clementine as you leant over her to control the animal. Within minutes the two of you were outside the farm fences, riding the horse down the main road.

"You did good, Clem." You said, after 10 minutes as you slowed the horse down to a walking pace, happy at how much distance you had put between you guys and the herd back at the farm. "Although, I thought I told you to stay behind me."

"Sorry, I just saw the walkers by the garage and then I saw the horse and I just acted on instinct like you taught me." She replied, tilting her up towards you as you placed a soft kiss to her forehead as she sat in front of you.

"I'm proud of you. Not sure how we would have made it out of there otherwise." You admitted causing her to smile happily at your comment before she glanced back at you with a questioning look and you knew what she was going to ask. "We're going to Alexandria, that's where Daryl's community is, once the herd has moved on we'll come back and see if anything has survived." You explained and suddenly you were glad that you had memorised all the routes to Hilltop and Alexandria because during all the commotion back on the farm you completely forgot to grab the map off the coffee table.

"How many people are at Alexandria? Is there other kids there?" Clementine asked curiously, but before you had a chance to even respond the horse suddenly got spooked by something as it started rearing up, making panicked noises.

"Whoa, easy girl. Easy." You said calmly, half holding onto Clem so she didn't fall off while half holding onto the horse to try calm her down. But it wasn't working and that's when you spotted the three walkers stumbling out from the woods onto the roads and you knew they were spooking the horse.

"Shit!" You yelled as the horse reared up again on her two back legs, but you were too busy making sure Clem was holding on tightly that you weren't holding on at all as you fell off the back of the horse. A blood curdling scream slipping from your lips as pain erupted through your stomach.

"Y/N!" You thought you heard Clementine shout, but all you could really hear was the blood rushing in your ears. You looked down trying to find the source of pain and your eyes went wide when you spotted the piece of metal sticking out your stomach.

"S-shit." You stuttered, your voice barely above whisper as your shaky fingers clutched the thick metal rod sticking out from the side of your stomach, but you quickly let go as the pain skyrocketed through your body. Blood oozing out from around the rod, straining your white tank top of flannel shirt a crimson red.

You had dealt with many different types of injuries before and after the world changed, but you had never dealt with someone being impaled by something, let alone yourself.

You could feel yourself starting to panic, burning pain searing through your stomach as you tried to move, but that pain was too much and you dropped your head back against the bitumen road in defeat as you stared up at the sky. Not even caring about the walkers that were stumbling towards you. You couldn't see them, but you could hear their groans getting louder and you knew it was only a matter of seconds before they reached you, ending all the pain as you closed your eyes, waiting for it happen.

But it never did. The sound of bodies hitting the ground filled the air and you forced your eyes open to find Clementine fighting off the walkers, her bloodied knife in her hand as she stabbed it into the nearest walker, but there were too many, she couldn't fight them all off on her own.

Suddenly you felt a surge of adrenaline soar through your body as you watched Clementine fight. Your fingers wrapped around the bloodied rod as you took a deep breath, using all the energy you had left as you pulled the metal rod out of your stomach with a pained scream.

The pain was nothing like you had ever felt before, worse than any iron Simon could have branded you with. It was a sharp stinging pain, yet it burned throughout at your whole stomach at the same time. You could feel blood now freely pouring from the puncture wounds on your back and stomach from where the rod had pierced you.

For a moment you thought you were going to pass out, you were too weak to do anything as the back of your head hit the bitumen road. You stared up at the sky, your vison blurring slightly, but the sound of Clementine fighting the walkers in the background bought you back. You had to help her, you had to keep her safe.

With the last bit of strength you managed to force yourself into a sitting position, biting your tongue to stop yourself from screaming as you shakily pulled your flannel shirt off. You tied it around your stomach, to try and slow the bleeding before you reached for your bow and quiver which was laying on the ground beside you.

You glanced over at Clem and that was all it took for you to get back onto your feet, your legs trembling from underneath you as you nocked an arrow onto the string. You pulled the string back with a groan and took down one of the walkers before nocking another arrow as you continued firing at the walkers until the last one hit the ground. She was safe. Clementine was safe.

"Y/N, oh my God." Clementine yelled, as you stumbled backwards, your bow still in your hand as Clementine quickly reached your side, grabbing your arm and throwing it over her shoulder to help keep you up right. "I'm so sorry, I should have controlled the horse better, I should have-"

"I-it's not your fault, Clem." You groaned, pressing your free hand against the wound on your stomach that was still bleeding despite the flannel wrapped around it. "We need to go to Hilltop, it's close... Alexandria is over an hour away still."

"Then we go to Hilltop. You're gonna be fine, alright? We just gotta keep going." Clem replied, tightening her grip around your waist, being mindful of the puncture wound as she helped you walk.

You weren't sure how far you walked, it could have been a couple miles, hell it could have only been a couple metres, you honestly had no idea. The only thing you were aware of was the burning pain coming from your stomach, you could still feel blood slowly trickling down your body through the make-shift bandage. God, how much blood could a person lose before it turned lethal? Because you were almost certain you've lost more than you should have.

"C-Clem... I can't, I gotta-" You began to say before you legs completely gave out from underneath you, Clementine unable to hold your weight up as you collapsed to the ground. You landed on your side and you groaned grabbing your stomach, your vision blurring as you fought to stay conscious.

You couldn't pass out, Clementine needed you, you had to stay awake... But man were you tired, maybe if you could close your eyes for a few seconds...

"Y/N, please you have to get up. I can't do this without you, please get up." Clementine begged, as you forced your eyes open to find her crouched down in front of you, her eyes full of tears as she stared at you desperately.

"F-follow this road, Hilltop should be around the corner... Ask for a man named Jesus, he's one of Daryl's friends." You instructed, wincing as you tried to sit yourself properly.

"No, I'm not leaving you here. Walkers could come or-" She began to argue, but you shook your head.

"I have my gun, I'll be fine... Just go. Clem, go!" You tried to yell, but quickly regretted it as sharp pain spiked through your stomach and you couldn't hold back the groan the left your lips. "I love you, Clem. Now go." You whispered, giving her a gentle smile which you were pretty sure was more a grimace, but Clementine just gave you a sad smile back.

A few tears fell down the girls cheeks as she stood up, grabbing your bow and quiver that you had dropped on the ground a few seconds ago. She threw the quiver over her shoulder like you had taught her as she looked over at you for a split second before she began running off down the road, and that was the last thing you saw before your world faded into darkness.

 


	7. Chapter 7

"Umm guys? There's a little girl at the gate and she's asking for Jesus." Tara's voice suddenly shouted from the watch platform as she looked over at her group of friends sitting on the stairs to Barrington house eating their lunch together after just defeating the Saviours yesterday. The people from Kingdom had left in the morning to go back to their community, along with most the people from Alexandria, but Rick and few others decided to stay a little longer wanting to be with their family and friends.

"A little girl?" Rick questioned, glancing up from his plate of food towards the long hair man who was sitting a few steps down from him eating his own food. But Jesus just shrugged his shoulders, having no idea what Tara was talking about.

"Wait." Daryl suddenly shouted from beside him putting his plate down as he quickly stood up from the stairs. Rick, Michonne, Carl, Maggie, Jesus, Aaron and Eric all looking at him in confusion. "Is she wearing a white and blue hat with the letter 'D' on it?" Daryl questioned, slowly walking down the steps as he stared at Tara from across the community as she turned back to look at the girl on the other side of the fence.

"Yeah."

"Let her in!" Daryl shouted, panic starting to bubble in his chest as he glanced back at Rick who handed Judith to Michonne before he stood up from the stairs, staring at Daryl in sudden realisation.

"Is this the little girl on the farm with that woman named Y/N? The one that gave us all those weapons? Why would she ask for Jesus?" Rick questioned, already knowing the answer because what other little girl would Daryl know that nobody else did.

"Somethin' must have happened. I told Y/N if something happened then she could come here and ask for Jesus. Clementine wouldn't come here on her own, not without Y/N." Daryl muttered, turning back towards the opening gate to find Clementine walking through, Y/N's bow in her hands as her eyes frantically scanned the community before she spotted him just in front of the large house.

"Daryl!" She shouted, sprinting over to him as Daryl knelt down just in time as Clementine dropped the bow and flung her arms around his shoulders, holding him tightly and he hugged her back.

"Hey, kid, what happened? Who did this?" He quickly asked as she let go of his shoulders, now standing in front him as he gently grabbed the side of her face noticing the cut along her cheek.

"Daryl, what's going on?" Jesus questioned from somewhere behind him, but he didn't bother to reply as he took in the tears trickling down Clementine's eyes and he knew something bad must have happened.

"Clem, what happened? Where's Y/N?" Daryl asked, wiping away the tears from the young girls cheeks as she shook her head.

"T-there was a herd. We had to leave, we didn't have a choice. We got one of the horses and was going to go to Alexandria, but the horse got spooked, Y/N got thrown off... and she's hurt. She's hurt really bad, a metal pipe went through her stomach..." Clementine trailed off, more tears falling down her cheeks as Daryl's eyes went wide in shock.

"Where is she? Clementine, I need you to tell me exactly where Y/N is." Daryl said, trying to keep his tone calm, but he was anything but calm. Y/N was hurt, with a damn pipe speared through her apparently, he needed to get to her.

"A few minutes down the road, she told me to leave her. She told me to come here and ask for Jesus, I didn't want to leave her." Clementine whimpered as Daryl grabbed her shoulder.

"Ya did good, kid. I'm gonna go get her, everything is gonna be fine, just stay here. Rick, Paul you're with me." Daryl ordered, standing up from Clementine as he glanced over his shoulder towards his two friends.

"I'll get a car ready." Jesus responded, dropping his half eaten plate of food as he jogged towards the gate where a few of Alexandria's car were parked.

"No, I need to go with you." The young girl tried arguing, but Daryl shook his head turning back towards her.

"I need ya to stay here, we'll bring Y/N back. Maggie?" Daryl called, glancing back towards the others as Maggie and Michonne began walking towards them, smiling softly at Clementine.

"I'm Maggie, this is Michonne and Judith. Stay here with us alright? We'll get that cut fixed up as well. Daryl, go get your girl, we'll watch her." Maggie reassured, as Michonne crouched down in front of Clementine to introduce her to Judith who was fast asleep in her arms and Daryl nodded, happy that she was going to be okay before him and Rick ran towards the car Jesus already had running by the gate.

None of them spoke as Jesus sped down the road, their eyes scanning the sides of the road for Y/N, knowing she had to be here somewhere. Suddenly, Rick pointed towards something lying on the road and Daryl's blood turned cold recognising your distinct cowgirl hat sitting on the bitumen road beside you as a few walkers began stumbling out from the woods towards you.

"Daryl?" Jesus asked, glancing up at him through the revision mirror, clearly wanting to know if it was her or if he needed to keep driving. Daryl quickly nodded as the other man slammed on the breaks. The car barely having come to a stop before Daryl was out the door, Rick hot on his tail as he began taking out the walkers with his axe.

"Y/N?!" Daryl yelled, dropping to his knees beside your unconscious body as he rolled you over onto your back, brushing the hair out of your face as your eyes blinked open and he sighed with relief.

"D-Daryl?" You stuttered, your voice barely a whisper as you stared up at him in pure confusion. Why was he here? What the hell happened? God, you were so tired and you couldn't think straight, why was everything so hazy? You knew you had hurt yourself, but you couldn't feel anything. What is going on?

"God, Rabbit." Daryl gasped, tears brimming in his eyes as he took in all the blood covering your tank top, your flannel shirt wrapped around your stomach where the blood seemed to be coming from. This was bad. This was really bad.

"It's okay. Daryl... It's okay." You whispered, your voice rough as you coughed up a bit of blood, but Daryl shook his head clearly disagreeing with you. Nothing really made sense right now, your head feeling like it was spinning. The only thing you really knew for certain was that you were bleeding from your stomach and it must be bad by the teary panicked expression on Daryl. "It's okay, it doesn't hurt." You said, trying to reassure him.

"That ain't okay, Rabbit. None of this is okay." He mumbled, his voice thick with emotion as he wiped the blood away from the corner of your mouth before another man appeared from beside him. He had long chestnut hair falling over his shoulders along with a thick beard and you instantly knew he was that Jesus guy.

"We need to get her back to Hilltop, she's loosing a lot of blood." Jesus commented, his eyes darting down to your blood soaked shirt before he glanced over his shoulder towards another man who was currently taking out the walkers with some kind of axe, but you couldn't really see him properly.

"M'sorry, this is gonna hurt." Daryl warned, giving you a sympathetic look before he picked you up off the ground, carrying you bridal style and to your shock it didn't hurt. Your body was just numb, you couldn't feel that searing pain you could earlier and you couldn't be more grateful.

"Rick, come on!" Jesus yelled as he quickly opened the back door to the car as Daryl carefully laid you down along the backseat. He sat down beside you, laying your head in his lap, his hands pressed down against your stomach to try slow the bleeding.

"Shit, how's she doing?" Another man suddenly asked as a car door slammed shut before the vehicle began moving. He must be Rick. Wait, isn't Rick the leader of Alexandria? Why was he at Hilltop? Wait, why was Daryl at Hilltop?

"There was a lot of blood, I didn't see the wound though. But, if that girl was telling the truth and she was impaled by a metal pipe... that isn't good." Jesus replied, but you weren't listening, you were just focused on Daryl, his panicked eyes staring at his now bloodied hands as he tried to keep pressure on the wound.

"D-Daryl-" You began to say, you voice softer than before and you suddenly realised just how difficult it was to actually speak.

"Save you're energy. You're gonna be fine, alright? You're gonna be fine." Daryl repeated, but it was clear he didn't believe it as tears began filling his eyes again, his hands trembling against your stomach.

"T-take care of Clem for me... please?" You asked, staring up him as his eyes glanced away from your stomach and locked with yours.

"Nah, you're gonna take care of her yourself, alright? You're gonna be fine. I ain't lettin' ya die." Daryl responded, but you shook your head as you began coughing up more blood.

"Daryl, promise me, you'll look after her. Promise me." You said once you managed to stop the small coughing fit as you focused back on Daryl who now had tears falling down his cheeks as he nodded in agreement.

You smiled weakly at him, lifting your hand up as you brushed his hair out of his face so you could see him properly as you wiped away his tears. "I-I... I love y-you." You whispered, staring into his teary blue eyes before everything starting getting blurry before the world around turned into darkness.

"Y/N? Hey, open your eyes. Come on, Rabbit, open your eyes." Daryl begged shaking your shoulders as more tears fell from his eyes. "Don't do this to me, Y/N. Wake up." He whispered, so focused on your lifeless body that he didn't even realise the car had stopped until Rick suddenly opened his door.

Daryl looked over at him through teary eyes. He knew Rick was talking to him, he could see the mans lips moving, but he couldn't hear anything over the blood rushing in his ears and his heart pounding in his chest.

Everything just happened so quickly. One minute he was sitting in the car with Y/N's lifeless body, the next minute he was stumbling into the infirmary trailer as Rick and Paul carried her inside. Hilltops doctor already there, immediately working on her.

"There's a heartbeat, but it's faint." Dr Carson stated as he began giving off instructions towards Jesus, but Daryl didn't hear anything past that as Rick appeared in front of him, waving his hands in front of his face.

"Can you hear me? Brother, you with me?' Rick asked, grabbing his shoulders, snapping Daryl back to the real world as he turned his attention towards the man in front of him. "Dr Carson needs to know what her blood type is, do you know?" Rick quickly questioned and it took Daryl a few seconds to actually process what his brother had asked before he shook his head.

"She never told me. I don't know." Daryl answered, glancing over Rick's shoulder towards the doctor who was already cutting open your shirt to inspect the wound.

"Shit. I need someone with an O Negative blood type then, they can be transferred to nearly any patient in need of blood. It's the only blood type that can donate to all blood groups. Someone go ask around the community, it's one of the rarest blood types-" The doctor began to instruct before Daryl walked past Rick, towards them.

"I'm O Negative, take what ya need." He stated as the doctor stared at him in shock for a split second before he quickly began setting up a blood transfusion, instructing Jesus on how to help him along the way.

"We don't have the equipment to see if there's any internal damage, as far as I can tell the pipe has missed all vital organs, but there's a lot of blood, she might have internal bleeding, but I can't do anything about it with the equipment we have." The doctor stated a few minutes later as he finished setting up the blood transfusion. Rick and Jesus hovering off to the side wanting to be there to help, but not wanting to get in the way.

"Then you do what you can with the equipment available. You do everything you can to save this woman's life, alright? Because she quite possible saved all of our lives, if it wasn't for her we wouldn't have had the weapons to take down the Saviours. We owe her that much." Rick spoke up, glancing at Daryl who was sitting on the chair beside her hospital bed, a needle and tube coming from his arm which was slowly transferring the blood how Dr Carson wanted it.

"I will." Dr Carson replied before he quickly got to work on the puncture wounds. It took nearly an hour, but he eventually stopped the bleeding and closed up the wounds with a mixture of stitching and cauterising them, but it seemed to do the job.

"So, she's going to be okay?" Daryl asked, watching as Dr Carson finished securing the fresh bandage wrapped around her stomach before checking the IV drip he had set up a while ago.

"If there's no internal bleeding then she should wake up some time tomorrow." The doctor answered.

"And if there is?" Daryl questioned, but he had a terrible feeling he already knew the answer.

"Then she probably won't make it through the night, I'm sorry." He replied and Daryl felt like he was going to be sick. He couldn't lose her, not like this. Y/N was the first person he's ever felt this way about and he's only known her for a few days in total, but he couldn't lose her. He loved her and she loved him... she loved him. Nobody had ever said that to him, not since his mother had died when he was a kid. Those words seemed almost foreign to him, but she had said that to him and he never had the chance to say it back.

"Shit." He heard Rick sigh, but all he was focused on was Y/N. Her skin was still as pale as a ghost, but not nearly as white as it was earlier in the car. A thick bandage was wrapped around her midsection, covering both the puncture wound along with the iron scar that Simon had put on her which was good, because he doubted she'd want the others to see it.

"Daryl, do you want me to go find Clementine? She might want to come see Y/N." Jesus suddenly asked and Daryl nodded, not bothering to look over at the young man, his eyes glued to her body, hating how weak and vulnerable she looked just lying there like that.

-

"So if she makes it through the night then she should be okay?" Clementine asked, basically repeating what Daryl had just told her as he nodded and watched, trying to figure out what the young girl was thinking. She stood up from her chair beside Daryl, placing a soft kiss to Y/N's forehead before she turned to him and pulled him into a gentle hug. Being mindful of the needle still sticking out his arm in case Dr Carson needed to use any more blood.

"She's gone through a lot and nothing has killed her yet, she'll make it through the night. Don't worry, Y/N's strong." Clementine stated in a confident tone as she pulled away from him and if it wasn't for the tears in the kid's eyes Daryl would have almost believed her. How was this little girl so brave? She was literally the one comforting him, it should be the other way around.

"Yeah, she is. You are too, ya know that? You're one tough kid, Clem."

"I've had a good role-model." She replied with a proud smile which caused him to smile as well despite both of them with teary eyes.

They sat beside her hospital bed for the next 10 minutes, neither of them really saying much before the door to the infirmary suddenly opened as Carl and Enid pocked their heads in.

"Hey, Clementine, do you want to come play with us? Michonne made snacks too." Carl suggested, his eyes glancing between Daryl and the little girl as she turned towards Daryl with a questioning look.

"Go play with Carl and Enid if ya wanna, they're good." Daryl reassured noticing the uncertain look on the young girls face before she nodded and began heading towards the door. Carl held the door open for the young girl as her and Enid walked out the room.

Carl glanced back over at Daryl who gave him an appreciative nod, knowing they were trying to keep the young girl distracted while Y/N was in critical condition and he appreciated it. Although Clementine seemed to be dealing with it better than him anyway.

-

Pain. Pain. And more pain. That was all your brain could process at the moment. A throbbing, stinging, burning, pain that speared right through your stomach.

What the hell happened? Surely this couldn't just be cramps or something, right? Well, you have had some serious cramps over the years, but this just felt different.

You knew your eyes were closed, but your eyelids just felt so heavy, you didn't really see the need in having to open them. So you just laid there for a few minutes well aware that you were boarder line conscious at this point, but you didn't really mind. However, when you heard something move somewhere to your left every survival instinct inside you was screaming at you to get the fuck up as you forced your eyes open.

Everything was blurry at first as you blinked a few times and began taking in your unfamiliar surroundings, where the hell were you? It seemed like you were in some kind of infirmary, but that's impossible, you didn't have an infirmary on the farm and you had escaped the Sanctuary months ago, right?

You continued to glance around, it didn't look like how you remembered the Sanctuary's infirmary and for a moment you thought that you weren't at the Sanctuary that you were somewhere else, but then your eyes landed on the bandaged wrapped around your stomach. It was wrapped perfectly around where the iron burn was from Simon... was it all just a dream? Were you only just waking up in the infirmary after Simon had burned you...? Was the farm all a dream?

Panic began to set in as you quickly sat yourself up in bed, sudden pain shooting through your abdomen as you quickly grabbed your stomach. A small whimper escaping your mouth as your eyes flashed towards the door, just waiting for Simon to walk through.

Suddenly, someone grabbed your shoulder, causing you to yelp as you flinched away despite the pain it caused, but you weren't too focused on the pain at the moment as you tried to get your breathing under control. It had been months since you last had a panic attack, but right now you knew if you didn't calm yourself down then that is exactly what was going to happen. But how could you calm down? You were back at the Sanctuary, apparently you had never left, it was all a stupid dream.

"Hey, hey, it's just me. You're safe, it's okay." A familiar voice called, but you couldn't figure out who at the Sanctuary had a voice like that. You turned to your right to find Daryl sitting on a chair beside your bed, his hand hovering over your shoulder where he had grabbed your earlier.

You wanted to say something, you wanted to ask him if he was real or if this was another dream, but you couldn't speak. You could barely breath as you struggled to get air into your lungs. "Just breath, alright? Copy me, deep breath in and a deep breath out." Daryl quickly said, grabbing your hand and holding it to his chest as he took in a few slow deep breaths as you closed your eyes trying to focus on mimicking his breathing and after a few minutes you could slowly felt yourself calming down.

"That's it, just breath. You're at Hilltop, you're safe here." Daryl said calmly as he slowly lowered your hand from his chest, but he didn't let go of your hand. You nodded to indicate that you had heard him, not really trusting your voice at the moment as you continued to glance around the infirmary. A shiver ran down your spin as you thought of what would have happened if you really were back in the Sanctuary.

"C-Clem?" You managed to ask after a few minutes as Daryl quickly handed you a bottle of water as you took a few sips.

"She's fine, she's playing with a few other kids in the main house. She's safe." Daryl replied as he put the water bottle back on the bedside table before he gently guided you back down into a lying position. "Ya scared the hell outta me, Y/N." He said, shaking his head and you could tell he was fighting back tears despite his hair covering half his face and you hated the fact that you were the reason for his tears.

"This must be serious, you called me by my actual name." You joked as he chuckled lightly and you smiled. You got him to laugh, you were gonna call that a win.

"Ya nearly died. The doc didn't know if ya were gonna make it through the night-" He began to say before you cut him off.

"I've survived this long in the new world, I'll be damned if I die from falling of a damn horse." You replied, causing Daryl to smile slightly as you reached for his hand again, lancing your fingers with his. "Why do you have a needle in your arm too?" You asked, only just spotting the needle in Daryl's arm and you frowned in confusion, did he get hurt as well?

"Didn't know what blood type ya were, I'm O Negative..." Daryl trailed off not really knowing the science behind it, but you nodded knowing that he was referring to how his blood type could donate to all the other types, vet school really did prepare you for the apocalypse.

"You gave me your blood?" You questioned, once you actually clicked with the fact that Daryl had to sit down and go through a blood transfusion while you were unconscious. "Thank you for that, and thank you for saving me."

"It's what we do apparently. Had to make up for all those times ya helped me and patched me up." Daryl replied with a small smile causing you to laugh, but you quickly regretted it as your laughed turned into a groan and you squeezed your eyes shut for a few seconds until the sharp pain reduced.

"Don't make me laugh." You winced, grabbing your stomach in pain as you opened your eyes to find Daryl looking at you with an apologetic expression. "We gotta stop getting hurt around each other. It's not fun." You muttered and Daryl nodded, leaning forward as he pressed a gentle kiss to you forehead before he gently cupped your cheek with his hand, his eyes locking with yours.

"I love ya, Rabbit." He said quietly, brushing his thumb over your cheek as his eyes flashed down to your lips before leant down and kissed you. "I should've said it earlier, but I really do love ya."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe it has come to an end already. I really enjoyed writing this fic, it’s very different from my usual fics which generally follow the shows story line, but this one took a whole new turn. I hope you all enjoyed it and I would love to hear your thoughts about it below.   
> I have many more Daryl x Reader fics planned for the near future along with a couple Norman Reedus x Reader, a Jaaryl (Daryl, Jesus & Aaron) military Au and I am currently posting a Rickyl Jurassic World Au fic too.  
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this series and I can’t wait to start posting my next fic. Until next time, stay safe everyone and have a great day xx

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys are liking this fic so far, it’s very different from my other fics, so if you do like it please like, reblog, comment etc because knowing you guys like my writing just really makes me happy and encourages me to continue. 
> 
> Until next time, stay safe guys and have a great day xx


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